Re:Zombie
by Redlikeroses7
Summary: Finding himself in the middle of an outbreak that turns people into monsters, Subaru has no option but to survive. With this new found goal, he must learn to help and rely on friends if he hopes to make it to safety on the other side of the country. While an agonizing death is a constant threat to him, he discovers that he has an ability that allows him to cheat it and move forward
1. A Knock at the Door

**AN: Welcome back people to a new story. This one will be my own AU that takes place in America, so it'll be easier for me when it comes to mentioning locations if I ever use them.**

 **Thanks to JDUBZ, the best Beta Reader there is! :D**

Chapter 1: A Knock at the Door

 ** _"Emilia."_**

 ** _"Yes, daddy?"_**

 ** _"You know I love you, right?"_**

 ** _"Of course! You're the best daddy in the whole world!"_**

 ** _"Hehe. I was hoping you'd say that."_**

 **April 26, 2015**

 **3:07pm**

Subaru was walking home from school, a backpack hung on his shoulders and a textbook in his hand. Yawning, he opened the front door and removed his shoes once he was inside.

"I'm home!"

There was no reply to his announcement. Subaru went to the kitchen to get an apple as a snack when he saw a note placed on the fridge with a magnet. He removed it from the fridge and read it.

 _Heading out on a date with your mother. Dinner is in the oven. Don't burn down the house and don't stay up too late. We'll be back late so we expect you to be asleep by then._

 _Love ya',_

 _Dad_

Subaru said to himself sarcastically, "Another feeble attempt to get me to be a normal human being?" He smiled as he threw away the note, "They should know me better by now. I always stay up late."

He grabbed an apple from a bowl on the table and bite into it, his teeth sinking deep into the fruit's soft flesh.

 **11:38pm**

Subaru yawned, the bright screen of the TV shined on his face. He was playing on his gaming console with his friend, Rem, who was currently playing with him online from across town.

Red blood covered the screen as a bold text appeared displaying the phrase 'Game Over'.

Subaru pulled the mic of his headset to his mouth, "I'm signing off, Rem. My parents will be here soon, and they'll be pissed if they see that I'm still awake"

Rem's cheerful voice responded from his headset, "OK, Subaru! I'll see you tomorrow! Good night, sweetie!"

"Good night, Rem." Subaru smiled and logged off.

He put down the controller and removed his headset. He looked at his watch, "Hmm, time for a shower."

Subaru went to his drawers and retrieved a change of clothes and his pajamas. The bathroom was down the hall and near the front door so he would be able to see through a opaque window when his parents came home so he could run to his room before they could notice him.

After his shower, Subaru turned off all the lights in the house except for the porch and returned to his room to get ready for bed. He turned off his room lights and crawled into bed. He browsed the internet with his phone for a while before his eyes started to feel heavy. Before falling asleep, he checked his watch.

 **12:17am**

"Where are they?" Was the last thing Subaru wondered before falling asleep.

Outside, the silent world began to change. Screams that Subaru could not hear echoed throughout the night sky as other people slept. People shambled aimlessly all through the night, their gruesome bodies making them look like living corpses.

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

The loud thumping sound awoke Subaru from his slumber. He was breathing rapidly, clutching his heart as it was trying to jump out of his chest.

Subaru had been dreaming of a fire, it consumed his house and spread to his room where he laid sleeping. He tried to wake himself up, but he couldn't. The fire spread to his sleeping form and set him ablaze. His other self awoke, screaming from the pain of having his flesh cooked and eyes melted. The real Subaru back up to the window across the room and looked outside to avert his eyes from his dying self. Around the neighborhood, every other house was set on fire, the pained screams of other filled the air. The horizon was glowing an orange color and the sky was black from smoke.

That was when Subaru woke up.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

The sound continued as Subaru wiped sweat from his forehead. Taking in the sight of his dark, safe room, Subaru calmed down realizing that he wasn't dying.

 _Thump!_

Subaru yawned and rubbed his eyes. _What is that?_

He checked the time. _Who the hell is here at this time?_ He laid back down into his bed. _Maybe mom or dad will get it._

The thumping stopped and Subaru smiled when it did. Softly breathing, he slowly succumbed to his drowsiness.

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

Subaru's eyes shot open. The sound was louder, more aggressive. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like it was going to stop any time soon. He stepped out of bed and walked into the hallway. He moved slowly and on his tip toes.

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

Walking down the hallway slowly, Subaru made it to his parents room. Looking inside, they weren't there. What the hell?!

"They never stay out this late." Subaru figured that maybe they were having more fun than usual, "Ewwww, gross. Of all nights to be late."

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

Whoever was at the door wasn't stopping.

Subaru looked towards the direction of the thumping and crossed his arms, "Guess I'll have to handle it myself."

The thumping was coming from the front door. Subaru made his way to it and looked through the small window at the side of the door to see who it was. However, the person was practically on the door so Subaru was unable to see them clearly.

His next idea was to look through the peep hole. What he saw confused him. A pale woman was up close to the door. The only sounds she made were heavy breathing and groaning. She was aimlessly looking around the wooden edges of the door. Subaru noticed that her eyes were cloudy, milky.

 _Is she blind?_

As he thought this, the woman extended an arm back and hit the door three times.

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

A quiet noise escaped the lips of the woman, "Raaaaarrrhggghh." She continued to dart her head around the door. At one point she even put her head up against the door as if listening for something. At this point, Subaru decided to let his presence become know to this strange woman.

"Who are you?!"

The woman's head jerked towards the sound of his voice. "Aaaahhhrrrrr."

"Do you need help?!"

Hearing it again, the woman's face twisted in anger. She continued her thumping, but increased its volume and frequency, all the while she was groaning loudly. "RRRAHHHGGGGRRRAHHH!"

 _BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!_

Subaru fell back on his butt, shocked by the woman's use of more violent behavior. He feared what the woman was here for, even though she looked weak. He got to his feet and side stepped towards the hallway before running to his room in a panic.

He grabbed his phone from his bed and tried calling his dad.

Subaru put the phone to his ear as the ringing in the phone started, "Come on, come on, come on." He walked in circle as the ringing continued. His father didn't pick up, next he tried calling his mother. She also didn't answer.

Subaru held the phone in front of him and shook it slightly, "Come on, guys."

 _BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!_

Subaru ran back to the hallway. Looking through the window at the front door, the woman was still standing there, desperately trying to knock down the door.

Subaru didn't understand what this woman wanted, she was making a racket so obviously she didn't care about being found like that. _Maybe she's mentally unstable?_

That was the only solution he could come up with, and it didn't help him calm down. He went up to the door and yelled, trying to sound threatening, "If you don't stop now, I'm gonna call the cops!"

This only angered the woman more, she began throwing herself into the door. Subaru fearfully noticed the hinges of the door become loose. Quickly, he slid the door's security bolt into place, the door shook less, but still didn't look to be in great shape. Cracks formed as the woman continued to throw herself into the door.

Subaru saw the cracks and yelled in utter fear, "Holy shit!" He ran away from the door and ended up in the living room that had a glass sliding back door. He dialed 9-1-1 and put the phone to his ear.

 _"We are sorry, all other lines are currently occupied and must be handled individually. If this is an emergency please do not hang up. An operator will be with your shortly."_

"Damn it!" Subaru put the phone on speaker and placed it in his pocket.

Outside, two more figures emerged from the shadows, they began to shuffle towards the front door of Subaru's house. Hearing the screams of the woman at the front door, they began helping her tear down the door.

Subaru looked at the front door, the cracks spreading more and increasing in size. He heard more groaning coming from the front door. "What the hell is wrong with these people?" They were making so much noise his neighbors MUST have heard the commotion. He went to the kitchen, saying through his teeth, "Why is nobody helping me?"

Subaru opened a drawer and retrieved a kitchen knife. He looked at his reflection in the blade. _Am I ready to kill a person…. even in self defens_ e? He gave the knife a test swing, imagining it cutting through flesh. The thought made him a bit squeamish. But if these people decided to attack him, he would have no choice but to defend himself. But still, he wasn't sure if he was ready to take a life even if his life depended on it. He stupidly decided that he'd make the decision when the time came for it to be more important.

He walked into the hallway to face the front door, holding the knife in front of him. "St-Stay away from me! I'm warning you! I-I have a knife!" His threat went unheard by the three people outside as they continued to thrash the door. Subaru only looked more panicked and scared as the structure of the door began to break open.

A hand busted through the door, reaching for Subaru. It's pale skin and purple veins stood out the most to Subaru. What he didn't notice was the dried up blood underneath the fingernails.

Subaru closed his eyes and swung at the arm, cutting deep into it. However, the person on the other side didn't react to the cut, they only kept reaching for Subaru.

Subaru looked at the blood spotted knife in his hand, and used the other to cover his mouth. _I think I'm gonna be sick_. He took a deep breath to suppress the urge to throw up.

He again brandished the knife in from of him, "Stop it!"

Two more arms busted through the door, wood from the door fell to the floor. The sight was like something out of a horror movie. Subaru shook in fear as the three people tore down the door. Splintering wood falling to the floor tiles.

In the center stood the woman, her pale skin showed the purple veins beneath. There was a chunk taken out of her arm, the skin around the wound was red and purple. Veins were spreading from the wound and reached her arteries, injecting them with some sort of infection. Her eyes were bloodshot, angry, cloudy, and trained onto Subaru.

The two others were male. One on either side of the woman. Their physical appearance of their skin was the same as the woman. Their eyes were also bloodshot and cloudy. _They're all blind?_

The one on the right, however, was missing an arm. Black blood dripped from the stump and stained the tiles below. Also, on his neck was another wound that looked like a bite.

The last one on the left had no visible wounds, but it was covered in blood. The thick, red liquid dripped from its mouth as it bared its teeth at Subaru. It's hands looked as if they were doused in blood and its clothes were no different.

The three stood still for a moment, looking at Subaru with hungry eyes. They reminded him of monsters from horror movies that he watched with his friends. Those movies never scared him, but seeing them in real life terrified him beyond belief.

The woman ran at Subaru. Again, Subaru closed his eyes and slashed the air with the knife, cutting the woman's throat.

The woman was knocked to the side by the attack. The two others ran at Subaru, loudly yelling as they did so, "RERRAAAHHHGGHHAAA!"

Subaru ran to his room, closing the door behind him and running to the closet. He shut the door as the men began slamming on the door to his room.

The door to Subaru's room was hollow and wooden. It only took a few seconds for the men to knock it down.

They ran into the room, looking around furiously. When they didn't see anything, it was as if they lost interest, shuffling around his room aimlessly.

Not knowing what was happening, Subaru slowly opened the closet door to look outside. He saw the two men cocking their head in different directions and jerking their head side to side, groaning as they did so. _What the hell is happening? Why does he not have a fucking arm and why is he covered in….blood?_

Subaru concluded that whoever or whatever these things were, they were extremely dangerous. Breaking down two doors and being covered in blood were definitely signs that he was in danger.

 _"Hello, 9-1-1, what is your emergency?"_

Like a megaphone in a dead silent room, a voice spoke from Subaru's phone in his pocket.

The two men turned simultaneously to the closet. _Oh fuck._

Not seeing any other way out, Subaru closed the closet door and hid inside. The next moment, the two men were slamming on the door. Like his room door, the closet door began to break easily.

Subaru was fearing for his life, wondering what these people would do to him if they caught him. One of the men punched a hole through the door. Through it, Subaru was able to see the bloody teeth of one of the men. Subaru shook with fear as he held the knife in his hand, only coming up with a one step plan, escape.

When the door was nearing its end, Subaru braced himself against it. He twisted the knob and threw it open with his body, knocking the men to their feet. Hoping to stop them, Subaru threw the knife at the bloodied one, embedding it into its arm. Subaru ran out his room the next moment.

 _"Hello? Hello? Is everything alright?"_

Subaru made his way for the front door. He made it to the end of the hall when something grabbed his foot, tripping him. Subaru fell to the floor hard, hitting head first. Dazed, Subaru looked back and saw the woman grabbing his legs and using them to crawl towards him.

He tried to stop her by punching her in the face, but it didn't seem to do anything. When she got closer, Subaru started putting his hands in her face to push her away. She bit off one of Subaru fingers that slipped into her mouth and began to chew at it.

Subaru screamed in anguish as he pulled his hand away from her. Blood gushed from his severed finger stump, coating his clothes in red. Keeping his attention on his pain, Subaru didn't realize as the woman crawled closer to his face. By the time he did realize, it was too late. The woman bit down on Subaru's neck, tearing the flesh and spraying blood all over her face.

 _"Sir? Hello?"_

"GGGHHAAAAAAAAAAAA AHHHHH AHHHH!" Subaru screamed in pain as his flesh was torn from his body in an animalistic fashion. The woman grabbed hold of his arms as she viciously ate his flesh. The two men from Subaru's room joined in, one tearing at his thigh and the other found comfort in eating his bicep.

Subaru was unable to scream once the woman enjoyed her lovely meal of vocal cords. By this time, he'd lost so much blood he couldn't move. He only layed still as the feelings of being torn apart became nothing more than a numb pinch.

His life flashed before his eyes as he was torn apart. His mother and father hugging him on his 16th birthday, the day he met his friend Rem in elementary school, the first time he fell in love, and everything else that impacted his life. All of it flashed before his eyes like a fast montage that lasted only seconds.

Mouth agape and eyes wide, the fatally wounded Subaru stared at the ceiling as the life left his eyes.

 **April 27, 2015**

3:02am

" ** _I only hope you'll still think me as that later on in life."_**

 **AN: Now this is just the first chapter of my new story so I need to plan out the actual story. As any zombie story should do, the properties of the zombies will be explained in future chapters.** **Be sure to comment if you like it so far. Thanks!**

 **See ya'll in the next chapter! :P**


	2. Infectious

**AN: Septorex101- I'm glad you liked the real ending of my last story, it's nice to see that the epilogue did exactly as it was intended to; make you sad, but also happy. ;)**

 **Thanks to JDUBZ for being an awesome, helpful, and advantageous Beta Reader!**

Chapter 2: Infectious

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

"AAAAHHHHHHHGG!" Subaru woke up screaming, his arm flailing around trying to fend off a nonexistent attacker. He was drenched in sweat, and breathing heavily. He was shutting his eyes as tight as possible from the pain, but the immeasurable pain he felt not to long ago was gone from his body. Noticing this, Subaru opened his eyes and saw that he was in his room. He wrapped his arms around his body expecting to feel his organs, but only felt his unharmed body. Breathing heavily, he put a hand up to his neck, it was fine.

 _What the hell? It was a nightmare?_

Subaru looked at himself in the mirror above his drawers. He looked fine, he lifted his shirt, expecting at least a scar of some kind, but again found nothing.

He touched his sweaty belly saying in a shaky voice, "This can't be right, I felt it. Th-They torn me apart. It felt too real to be a dream."

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

The sound of thumping from the front door made Subaru freeze. It was the same thumping from his dream, same rhythm, same volume, same everything. It was just a noise, but to Subaru it was a sign. A sign that his dream was connected to the real world somehow.

"Maybe I heard the noise in my sleep and it made its way into my dream?" Subaru said this uncertainly, trying to make sense of his situation. What stumped him was the intense pain he felt when he died in his dream.

Subaru remembered having dreams where he got hurt, but he never felt any pain when it happened, and when he woke up he never did so in a panic, and out of breath.

 _Whatever that dream meant I-._

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Convinced that the noise was only something he heard in his sleep, Subaru walked into the hallway. He checked his parents room to see if they heard his screams. They weren't there.

Subaru looked at their neatly made bed with a stupid expression, "Uhhhhhh….." The bed was untouched, as if his parents never made it home for some reason. He checked his watch.

 **2:42am**

Seeing his parents gone, the time he woke up at, and the sound at the front door, Subaru fearfully thought, _Just like in my nightmare._

The feeling of ripped muscle and tissue returned to Subaru's mind, mainly the feeling of _his_ being ripped. The image of the woman at his front door was what he imagined in his head when he heard the thumping.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Praying to whatever god was listening, Subaru walked up to the door. He softly placed a hand on the door, leaning on it so he could slowly angle himself to look into the peephole. He had to wipe sweat that dropped into his eyes as he fearfully put his eyes into the peephole.

There was nothing. The porch light shined brightly, lighting up their dark from lawn. Subaru shifted his eyes to look left and right, but his sight to looking in this direction was limited. In the darkness, something shifted in the bushes in front of his house. Subaru's attention was caught by this. He tried press his face further into the door so he could see the figure clearly. Before he could, a body walked in front of the door from the left.

Subaru was startled by the sudden appearance of the figure right in front of his face, falling to the floor with a scream.

From inside, Subaru heard the unmistakeable sound the woman from his nightmare made, "Rrrrraagghhhh…."

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

The figure outside began banging on the door faster and harder upon hearing the scream Subaru made.

 _This isn't happening. This can't be happening._ Subaru slowly crawled towards the door. He placed his hand on it, feeling it shake every time the figure hit it. The thumping of the door was in sync with the thumping of his own heart.

His palms were sweaty as he slide the security bolt into place, the tiny _click_ sounding. It took a little while for Subaru to collect enough courage to stand up and look into the peephole.

Subaru looked through it and saw the woman from his nightmare. He opened his mouth, not believing what he was seeing. From behind the woman, two more figures emerged, the two men. Subaru tried to step back, but his feet were cemented to the floor in fear. This cause him to again fall onto his butt. He used his hands and feet to quickly crawl backwards away from the door.

In his head, Subaru spoke in a whiny sort of voice. _My nightmare is coming truuuuue! What the fuuuuuuuck!_

He ran to his room and grabbed his phone. The first thing he did was call his parents, but neither answered. _Fuckfuckfuckfuck_. Again, the thought of ripping flesh returned to him. He cringed at the distant feeling of being bitten into. It felt so real.

Subaru dialed 9-1-1.

 _"We are sorry, all other lines are currently occupied and must be handled individually. If this is an emergency please do not hang up. An operator will be with your shortly."_

Subaru threw his phone across his room, "FUCK!"

 **2:50am**

 _BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!_

Subaru's scream of impatience angered the three people at the front door.

He ran to the door, he arrived just as it began to break. Subaru began to fear that his nightmare may have a premonition of the future. But he didn't want to die the same death he did as in his nightmare. He remembered how ineffective the knife was, even when he slit the throat of the woman. It may have been just a nightmare, but Subaru didn't want to take that chance. He needed another way to deal with them, or escape.

 _BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!_

The hands of the people outside began to penetrate through the door.

Subaru ran to his parents room and opened their closet. Inside were clothes and other various items.

Subaru began to frantically throw everything out of the closet.

 _I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna to die. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna to die._

The three people broke down the door, running into the house. However, they twitched their head around, but found nothing to chase so they stopped and just walked around the kitchen.

From inside his parent's room, Subaru found his dad's prized possession, a metal bat signed by one of his favorite baseball player. _Sorry, dad._

Subaru held the bat, ready to swing, and slowly made his way towards the front door. The splintered wood was scattered across the floor, bits and pieces were coated in blood.

 _I can't freaking handle this right now._ Subaru heard groaning coming from the kitchen. He decided that he would avoid going there.

Subaru walked towards the front door. Perhaps maybe he could ask a neighbor for help and they could do something about the intruders. Subaru took only four steps before he accidentally stepped on a piece of wood from the door, it crunched under his foot. _CRAP!_

The woman in the kitchen heard the noise. Her head cocked to the side as she exited the kitchen. "Raaaahhhhhhgghhggrrrr."

Subaru stood frozen as the woman walked into view. She turned towards him but didn't look at him. Her cloudy eyes darted around as she threw her arms forward.

 _She's blind. So she's relying on sound and touch?_

This proved his point when the woman slowly approached Subaru, but walked past when he quietly stepped out of her way. The woman stopped in front of Subaru and tilted her head, trying to find him. Subaru got brave and wove his hand in front of her face, she didn't notice.

Subaru slowly and ever so quietly exhaled the breath he had been holding, saying under his breath, "Holy shit."

"RAHHHH!" The breath and whisper was all the woman needed to locate Subaru and lunge at his neck.

Subaru scrambled to react to her sudden attack. He hastily held up the bat so her neck was stopped by it. Subaru kept her at a safe distance as he spun them around and smashed her against the wall. The woman reached for Subaru, her hands grabbing onto his arms. Somehow, the woman was overpowering him, using her strength to pull him closer. In the heat of the moment, Subaru quickly spun around and threw the woman into the opposite wall. She fell to the floor, allowing Subaru to kick her. He didn't want to kill her, just wanted to make sure she stayed down.

The noise he caused was more than enough for the other men to exit the kitchen. They groaned as they heard Subaru and were making a beeline for him. Subaru saw them and swung at the one-armed one. The metal bat connected with his stump and knocked him into the wall.

The bloody one took action and tackled Subaru to the floor, the bat flying out of his hand. Subaru prevented him from biting by pushing on the man's shoulders. The blood from its mouth dripped on Subaru's face, obscuring his vision. The man was snapping at Subaru, his bloody, yellow teeth clashing together over and over. All Subaru could do was push on the man, who was slowly getting closer. The man was stronger than Subaru, making it hard for him to fight off his attacker. In a last attempt to survive, Subaru put his forearm onto the neck of the man and quickly scooted his body to the left while pushing on the man's neck. This resulted on Subaru having enough leverage to shove the man off of him.

The man flailed around on the floor trying to find Subaru. By the time he got up, Subaru was already on the porch, running. However, the one-armed man had already gotten up and heard Subaru running, and chased him. Not long after did the bloody man follow suit with the woman hot on his heels.

"HELP!" Subaru screamed as he ran into the middle of the street. He looked around, every other house was dark, no one came out help him. Seeing the two men approaching fast, Subaru ran across the street, full sprint. He tried to open the front door of the house across, but it of course didn't open. Subaru turned around. The three crazed people were still after him. He waited till the last second to sprint to the side so they crashed into the door. Subaru speedily stepped his way through a large bush so he could go around the house, the people were close behind.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" The fear in his voice was clear as he ran, trying to escape the bloodthirsty psychos who seemingly wanted to tear into his body. Making it to the back of the house, he was more than happy to see that there was a back door..

 _Oh please oh please oh please._

Without another thought, Subaru opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. He relaxed for just a second, leaning against the door, that was when the three lunatics reached the door and slammed against it.

"RRWWRRAHHHGGGGHHH!"

"AAAAAAGGGGRRRHHHAA!"

One of their hands smashed through the small window in the door and grabbed Subaru's shirt.

"UUUHHHHHH!" Subaru used both his hands to pry the fingers from his shirt. He backed up and looked at the door. It was wooden, but it seemed to be sturdy enough because the two men barely did anything to it as they threw their bodies into it. Feeling relieved, Subaru turned away and inspected the room he was in. It seemed to be the dining room. Upon first glance it appeared normal, a large table with a tablecloth, a small chandelier, a cabinet of china and pretty cups stood in the corner, and chairs stood around the table. However, one of the chairs was tipped over and on the floor. One of its legs looked to be snapped off. _I don't think I'm alone._

All across the floor was broken china plates and some sort of white powder. Through the powder, Subaru could clearly see multiple sets of footprints were either walking or running across it multiple times.

Deciding to check the house for others that might help, Subaru called out, "Hello? Anybody in here?!"

Nobody answered.

Subaru pulled out his phone and called the one person he most definitely wanted to make sure was safe.

 **3:13am**

"Huh? Subaru?" Emilia's sweet voice answered the phone. She sounded sleepy and out of it.

"Emilia! Are you alright?" Subaru held the phone close to his mouth, walking through the house, checking for anyone.

Her voice was slow and interrupted with a yawn. "Huhhh? Subaru...what are you talking about? Why wouldn't I be fine?"

Emilia tried her best to listen to Subaru's explanation of men breaking into his house, but all of it went in one ear and went out the other. Her sleep deprived brain was shutting down as she stayed awake. Within a few seconds, Emilia's head went limp and her phone fell out of her hand as she passed out.

Subaru heard the thumping of the phone hitting the floor, "Emilia?...Emilia!?" From the other side of the call, Subaru heard Emilia quiet snoring as she slept. The snoring charmed Subaru, it was one of those little things that made Subaru's heart melt. But Subaru didn't call to here her snore, he tried calling out to her to wake up.

Subaru came across a room thats door was open. He continued to call into the phone, "Emilia. Wake up! Come on, Emili-." Subaru froze upon seeing what was lying on the floor of the room. What he saw made him stop and throw up on the floor.

On the floor was a motionless body. It's belly was ripped open with its organs spilling out. Blood, stomach acid, and other fluids soaking into the carpeted floor as another person was grabbing intestines and stuffing them into it's mouth. Subaru noticed the wooden chair leg stuck in it's chest. The pink flesh mushed and broke between the creature's teeth as it enjoyed the man's delicious taste. As it tore into the man on the floor, it didn't even pay Subaru any attention despite his raised voice and violent vomiting.

When Subaru had finished involuntarily emptying his stomach, he ran to the dining room again. He looked at the back door. The people were still hitting it, the door was beginning to break. _Fuck! I have to go!_

Subaru had the idea of running out the front door.

Slamming it behind him, Subaru enjoyed the fresh air. He put his back to the door and slid to the ground. He put his hands to his face and started to cry. There were others like this, that he knew from experience. His parents were probably in the middle of all it too, that must be why they were so late and weren't answering the phone.

 **3:24am**

Just in case, Subaru called his parents again, nothing. He tried calling 9-1-1, the phone lines were still all occupied. he had already called Emilia so that wasn't going to work.

Subaru dialed the next number that came to mind.

"Subaru?" Like Emilia's, Rem's voice was also slow and sleepy.

Subaru was happy upon hearing her voice, "Rem! I'm so glad you're alive."

"Subaru, Rem knows you want to flirt, but can't it wait till tomorrow? Rem is sleepy."

Subaru put the phone in front of his face and acted as if it were Rem herself, pointing at it, "I-I-I'm not flirting, Rem! I'm actually trying not to die here!" A loud sound from inside the house told Subaru that the men had broken down the back door. A moment later, they began hitting on the front door when they heard Subaru. "Oh for Christ's sake. Just can't catch a break, can I?"

Rem sounded more wide awake, "Subaru? What was that noise? Are you safe?"

"Yeah, for now, but that's not gonna last long." The banging on the door increased.

Rem sounded worried, "Subaru! Rem and Nee-sama will come to you!"

"No! Don't do that!"

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous!"

At that moment, Subaru saw someone walk out from the back of one of the houses across from him. And it was looking right at him.

Subaru said only one thing, "Oh...ffffuck."

"Subaru?"

Subaru said quietly into the phone, almost like a whisper. "Stay there, Rem. I'll come to you."

"But what i-." Subaru ended the call and placed the phone into his pocket.

The person across the street was staring at Subaru, breathing rapidly. Subaru slowly got up and began to tiptoe away, but as soon as Subaru moved away, the man started to charge at him.

 _He heard me?_

Subaru was scared shitless, this one was running faster than the other two. When it got closer, Subaru saw that it's eyes were clear and not foggy. This one wasn't blind.

Subaru dodged out of the way as the man swiped at him. With no weapon, Subaru chose to run away.

The man stopped in his tracks to change direction, his bloodshot eyes and grotesque skin visible in a street lamp. It went into a full sprint as it chased Subaru. when it caught up, it lunged onto his back and knocked Subaru down.

Subaru was shocked at the speed of the man and laid on the ground for a moment before throwing an elbow back. It connected with the side of the man's head, knocking him off of Subaru.

Both of them got up at the same time, but before Subaru could run, the man grabbed his shoulders and pulled Subaru towards him, his mouth extended.

The man sunk his teeth into Subaru's neck breaking the skin and spraying blood everywhere. Subaru screamed in pain. Before the man could take out a chunk and eat it, Subaru used his hands to force the man's mouth open. With one hand one on his lower jaw and another on his upper jaw, Subaru used all his strength to pull them as far apart as he could. What surprised Subaru was how easily he torn the lower jaw from the man's face. In his hand was the man's chin and set of teeth.

He immediately threw it to the ground in disgust. He felt like throwing up again, but there was nothing left in his stomach. Subaru looked up to see the man still standing, his tongue hanging down from his skull and blood gushing down the front of his shirt.

Subaru backed up towards the garden of a house and fell to his butt, fear taking over again. The man rushed him, seeing a helpless meal on the floor. Subaru reached next to him and grabbed a rock the size of his fist. When the man lunged towards him Subaru used the rock to knock him away, caving in the side of the man's skull.

When Subaru got up he saw that the man was also getting up despite his jaw missing and head dented. It was on it's knees when Subaru threw his leg as far back as he could and kicked the man as hard as he could in his head. The man fell back and spasmed violently, his brain severely damaged. The man tried to scream, but all that came out were throaty sounds.

Shaking, Subaru shambled away from the man. He tried to put as much distance as he could between himself and the man while putting a hand over his bite wound to stop the flow of blood. His wound burned to the touch, he had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming in pain. _I don't...feel right._

In the middle of the street, he feel to his knees. Something was happening to him, but he didn't completely know what. He had an assumption, but was too scared to even think it.

 **3:37am**

On the way to Rem's house, there was evidence that others had gone through the same ordeal that he had. Dead bodies littered some front lawns as he walked by, none moved, but he did see other alive, sane people, he didn't pay them any attention though. No one could help him heal his neck wound.

He tried calling 9-1-1 and the paramedics, but none picked up, it seemed whatever was happening, it was happening almost everywhere.

Bags began to form underneath Subaru's eyes as he continuously tried to stop the bleeding from his neck. He began to notice his skin becoming pale, and he began to feel cold. His only savior would be Rem, her dad was a cop, so surely he would be able to help him. His feet began to drag the closer he got to Rem's house. Subaru couldn't see it himself, but a dark liquid began to form at his bite wound and seep into his veins and arteries, spreading throughout his entire body.

 **4:11am**

Making it to Rem's street, Subaru couldn't help but notice that the past few blocks had been unaffected by this…thing. As if it was either avoiding this place or waiting to come here.

 _Please be safe._

After a few minutes, Subaru walked up Rem's driveway and made it to her front door.

His vision was cloudy, he was feeling extremely off balance, and he was starting to fade in and out of consciousness, but he still was able to knock on the door. After he did, he put his head on the door and leaned into it.

 _Please, please, please._

Right before his eyes closed, the door opened and he fell to the floor.

Rem screamed upon seeing a bloody Subaru fall at her feet.

 **4:21am**

Subaru opened his eyes. The ceiling was colored a very light blue. _This must be Rem's room_. Subaru remembered it from the countless times he spent hanging out with his friend in her room.

"I'm sorry, Rem. He's dead."

Without meaning to, his head turned toward the voice. The pink haired Ram was comforting her younger twin sister, Rem, in her arms. The blue haired Rem was crying into the chest of her older sister as Ram cried as well into the top of her younger sister's head.

"Raaaaaaghhhhh." Subaru wanted to look around for the source, but couldn't, his head wouldn't follow his instructions. Instead, his head stayed planted on Rem and Ram. Subaru found that he couldn't control his whole body; eyes, legs, arms, head, nothing.

Rem and Ram looked up at Subaru.

Rem's face brightened up, "Sister! He's alive!"

 _Alive? Why wouldn't I be?_

Again, Subaru heard the sound he was afraid of, "Raggghhaaarrraaahhhh." Finally, he realized it was him. Subaru tried reaching for Rem and Ram, something he hadn't meant to do.

Subaru noticed his arms. His skin was pale and purple veins were visible underneath the skin. He had turned into one of them and was no longer in control of his own body.

Ram saw the odd behavior and prevented Rem from going to Subaru. "Rem, he doesn't seem…...well. Barusu is usually a barbaric idiot, but this…..is different."

Subaru's body fell to the floor as it reached for Rem and Ram. It got up and approached them.

Ram stepped in front of Rem. "Barusu, don't come any closer." She observed his angry, bloodshot eyes. They were the eyes of someone that wanted to kill.

Subaru tried to fight himself, but there was nothing he could do, he was gone.

 _Can't...control!_

"Raaahhhhhraghhh." Subaru's body only stepped faster towards Ram.

"Barusu!" Ram kicked Subaru in the stomach just as he was swiping at them, but it barely did anything, only knocking him back a few steps.

"Sister!" Rem put her hands to her mouth, shocked.

"Rem, we have to go." Ram grabbed Rem's hand and ran out the door, closing it behind them.

Subaru's body staggered a bit and tried to follow the twins, but a door blocked his way. It was hollow so it only took the crazed Subaru a minute for him alone to rip it open.

Subaru looked around and ran down a short hallway where he saw Rem and Ram.

Ram was currently digging in a drawer, she found a slip of paper with a code on it, and bent down to input it into a safe.

Rem was the closest to Subaru, her hands to her chest as she looked fearfully at Subaru. Her voice was quiet and pleading, it hurt Subaru's heart just hearing her speak like that. "Subaru-kun, please stop this. You're scaring us."

 _Noooo, stop!_

Subaru ran at Rem and tackled her to the ground. She screamed as she fell to the floor. Her eyes were shut as she tried with all her might to push Subaru away from her. He got closer and closer to her innocent face, his teeth itching to sink into her.

 _Stop it!_

Rem opened her eyes to see Subaru's teeth coming closer to her neck. She was frozen in fear, unable to say a word as Subaru got closer.

 _REM!_

"Subaru!"

Subaru stopped to locate the other voice. He turned to his right to see Ram holding what looked to be a pistol to his face.

Ram whispered "Back off."

Instead of doing so, Subaru lunged at her. However, Ram was quick enough to jump out of his reach and shoot the taser at his body. Instantly, he started freezing up, unable to move on his own. However, when the flow of electricity ended, he began his advancement again.

Inside his own body, Subaru tried his hardest to move himself. He willed with all his might to stop himself. To his surprise it seemed to work. Mid stride, Subaru slowed down and came to a stop. He grunted and before regaining control and advancing towards Ram again.

Ram fearfully threw to taser at his face, but it did nothing. She then took out what she'd found in the safe, a pistol. Her hands shaking, she raised the gun and aimed it at Subaru. Subaru was about to lung at Ram when Rem suddenly came in and bear hugged him.

"Subaru, please stop this! Rem doesn't understand why you've chosen to do this, but I do know that this isn't the Subaru we know!" Tears fell from Rem's eyes as she pleaded with Subaru to stop.

Again, Subaru tried desperately to regain control of his body. Hearing Rem cry her heart out at seeing her own sister aim a gun at their best friend broke his own. He didn't want this to go about like it had done to many other people.

"Subaru, stop!" Ram yelled furiously when Subaru grabbed a hold of Rem and pried her off, staring at her as if determining where to bite.

Rem waited in fear, watching Subaru staring at her skin. "S-Subaru darling?"

Inside his body, Subaru fought hard to avoid doing anything. He thought of his parents and how he wanted to find them, he thought of Rem and Ram and all the time they'd spent together. He needed hope, he didn't want to lose it all.

Slowly, Subaru loosened his grip on Rem, but not letting her go. He blinked a couple times before looking to the side and seeing Ram. It seemed he was okay before he suddenly lost control again and began forgot all about Rem as he lunged at Ram.

Ram was unable to bring herself to pull the trigger, frozen in place as Subaru tackled her to the floor. At the same time, the front door was kicked open when a nearby neighbor rushed over because of the commotion. He was able to pry Subaru off of Ram, but didn't expect him to turn around grab a hold of his arm. Before he could think of anything, he felt pain as Subaru tore a chunk of his forearm out.

With a scream of pain, the man grabbed Subaru by the collar and shoved him away. He looked at his arm, nearly throwing up at the sight of his own torn open arm. He looked up just in time to see Subaru lung at him again. Without hesitation, the man uppercut Subaru, sending him flying back with a heavy fall onto his head.

Rem screamed desperately, "Subaru!" Despite Subaru showing he was dangerously hostile, she couldn't bear to watch him being beaten.

The man picked up the gun Ram had dropped.

Ram reached out to the man, wanting to plead with him not to kill Subaru. "NO!!"

Then, to Rem and Ram's horror, they watched as Subaru grabbed the man one last time before a bullet found its way into his skull.

 **4:25am**

 **AN: The time markers have almost no significance other than to add a realistic view of the story. They do, however, help when Subaru's RBD ability activates and sends him back, that's where you'll be able to tell just how far he went when I put the time maker there. Yeah...sooooo...yeaaaaahhhhh...**


	3. Realization

**AN: Mathew Yan- My last story had a small amount of gore any the occasional vulgar language so that's why I put it as M rated. As for this story; it has blood, gore, vulgar language, cannibalism, murder. Its basically the most 'M' it can get.**

 **Septorex- What I plan to happen will happen. I'm not saying Ram will be dead by the end and I'm also not saying she'll be alive by the end. All I'm saying is that only time will tell.**

 **Tyler- Glad you like it lol.**

 **Thanks to my main man JDUBZ! The man, the myth, the legend.**

Chapter 3: Realization

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

Subaru gasped loudly, sitting up in his bed. He started to take deep, shaky breaths, his chest rising and falling in an uneven rhythm. The first thing he did was check the time. What he saw, strangely, didn't surprise him. Next, he called his parents. Neither of them answered. This scared him more than it had before. The same went with 9-1-1, nothing. He let the phone drop from his hand and onto the floor. He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever, listening to sounds at the front door.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Subaru did nothing as the banging continued on and on. Sweat poured down his forehead and seeped into his pillow as he tried to collect his thoughts. _What that nightmare was...it was no nightmare. I had become one of them._

It was all too real to him. The fighting, the screaming, the gore, and everything about the...the people, it was too real. He truly felt the aching sadness in himself when he watched himself attack his friends. It had nearly made him go mad just knowing he could've killed other people. It was all too real. Too real. Too real.

Subaru could still feel the ripping of his flesh from his first 'nightmare' and the penetration of the bullet into his skull in his last 'nightmare'. _Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare…...they're not nightmares._

How could they be? Never had he felt physical pain from a dream. But now he has. Was it even possible for the pain and suffering he'd gone through in these 'nightmares' to transfer to his own real body? The others had felt so life-like he couldn't tell where he was. Perhaps, this was a dream too?

Slowly, Subaru moved his arm to his cheek and pinched himself. When nothing happened he applied for pressure u til he drew blood. He stopped due to the pain and looked at the blood that was on his finger nails. Placing a hand to the wound he found that he had indeed managed to break through his skin.

 _So...I'm not asleep._

The banging at the front door, the time, the fact that his parents wouldn't answer their phones, and the emergency lines were always busy, they all happened every time he woke up. And every time he woke up, it was because he died. _Every time I die...I come back here._

Subaru rubbed his eyes, he didn't understand what was happening, but whatever it was, he was stuck in an endless loop of dying and suffering. But still, Subaru had doubts about the possibility of him having the power of time travel through resurrection. _What did I do to deserve this?_ To Subaru, this wasn't a blessing, but a curse. He was forced to relive this same moment every time he died. It just wasn't fair.

Subaru finally got out of bed. He walked over to his room window, looking outside towards the front, he saw two figures emerge from the shadows and make their way towards the front door. A blank look was on his face as he followed the figures until they disappeared from sight. He flinched as he heard the people bang on the door harder and harder.

 _Bang!_ Flinch.

 _Bang!_ Flinch.

 _Bang!_ Flinch.

Subaru did nothing as he heard the door from across the house start to crack and snap.

 **2:50am**

 _No…. I'm not going to die._

Deciding that he wasn't going to just give up, Subaru marched his way to his parents room. The door began to crack more and it finally broke when Subaru reached his parents closet. Relying on his previous….memories, Subaru grabbed the metal bat where he had found it in his previous loop. He shut his eyes when he found it. _It all already happened._

"RAAAAAHHHHHGGGAAA!"

The three people finally broke through the door for the third time, except this time Subaru was ready. He stepped out of the room as they went into the kitchen. Seeing there bloody wounds and disgusting features once again frightened Subaru, but he knew what to do in a sense. The purple veins, were still visible on their skin. _Some sort of infection, it must be._ Subaru thought that whatever was making these people crazy was because of a virus or infection that spread through.. _saliva?_ Whatever the means were, getting bitten was a way to get infected.

 _So, are they zombies? Is this really happening?_

It was all too surreal, but he felt he'd already been through this enough times to figure out that these people every right to be called zombies. They ate other living people but their own, they had no reasoning to them, and they seemed to only act animalistically with no sort of knowledgeable human qualities to them.

He'd played many zombie survival games, but no game could compare to the real thing. In his virtual world, he could slay waves upon waves of the undead without breaking a sweat. But now that he was here and in actual danger of dying a painful death he could ignore the fear inside him that made him hesitate.

"Rrrraaaaggggghh."

The sound he'd recently grown to fear was closer than he'd like. Slowly, one of the zombies, the bloody one, stumbled into his parents room and cocked its head around as if listening for anything. Raising the bat, he tried to summon the courage to kill him. This thing was evil. Just looking at it he knew it had killed someone already. Someone innocent had lost their life to this monster, and Subaru had a chance to avenge them.

However, he still couldn't bring the bat down. He was scared, not only of this person but also the thought of taking a life. He'd never though got in his entire life he'd have to kill someone.

 _This isn't a person. This isn't a person. I have to kill it or it'll just go and kill someone else._

Subaru told himself this over and over again in his head. He knew he had to do it, but no matter how bad he thought gf the monster he couldn't bring himself to just bring down the bat and end it's life.

After what seemed like an eternity, the zombie decided to listen elsewhere and walked away. At this, Subaru lowered the bat. He watched the monster go around the corner and out of sight.

Scared, Subaru fell to his knees. He used the bat to balance himself as he silently started to weep. This all too much. Before, he was confused and had no idea as to what was happening, but now that he knew and was fully aware of the situation he felt he couldn't win. He weeped selfish tears as he asked himself why this was happening to him. Was he expected to survive in this world? He could barely even handle high school. How was he expected to beat this? Or better yet, was he even supposed to beat this or was this his pesonal Hell? Had he died already and was sent back to relive this memory since he failed to do anything worthwhile when he was alive?

"No."

This was all too crazy. These thoughts in his head were stretching too far from what was understandable to what was just flat out crazy. While a small part of him was still skeptical about his power to reset time when he died, he felt it was the only thing bringing him further into this world. His current ability to see what had happened in his previous 'attempts' allowed his to live this far. He had a clean slate and a desire to live. He was anted nothing more than to be safe, but he knew he couldn't go out on the streets. He'd seen the chaos and knew that some zombies were out there waiting to intercept him at some point.

Subaru wiped his nose and cleaned up the tears at the corners of his eyes, wondering what he should do next. This was truly a nightmare come true.

In his own words, "I'm in some deep shit now."

Slowly, Subaru used the bat as leverage to get up onto his feet. He needed to figure something out, but for now he didn't want to be interrupted. He quietly made his way across the room and very slowly closed the door. As he did so he clenched his teeth harder with every inch. And when one of the hinges squeaked just as he was just about done it felt like a bomb had gone off.

"Gahhh..."

Subaru heard one of the zombies make a noise and slowly start to make its way to the door. Just when it reached the door am bumped into it, Subaru had already closed it and backed up a couple feet. The zombie scratched its nails against the door, feeling the wooden surface before moving along to a different part of the house.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Subaru sneaked his way into the closet.

Next he tried calling Emilia. Nothing. Rem. Nothing. Otto. Nothing. Garfiel. Nothing.

No one answered. Frustrated with the outcome, Subaru growled to himself. He had no contact with anybody. He was alone.

The silence was deafening within the confineds of the closet. The darkness was comforting, sheltering his vision from the horrors that walked around only a few feet from where he was. He wanted nothing more than to stay there, but knew he couldn't. He had to find somewhere safer and collect himself. He needed time to think. He had to find his parents himself somehow despite not knowing where they even went. Then it hit him on where to go.

 _Rem._ Her neighborhood was free of these zombies.

If there were no zombies in her neighborhood then that would mean he would be safe there for the night. All he had to do was to safely make it there... Unlike last time. _I hope Rem doesn't mind me popping in unannounced._

Slowly, Subaru opened the door and made sure the coast was clear. The door was still closed so it was safe to assume nothing had gotten in yet. He could hear the groans of the zombies coming from different parts of the house.

Subaru opened the window that let to the back and took the bat with him. A gust of fresh air hit him, as if congratulating him for his efforts on staying alive this far.

 **3:04am**

Subaru opened up the back gate of his backyard that led to a thin gravel path, closed in with a vine covered wall. He turned left, making his way towards Rem's house. On the way were other gates that led to other backyards, but they were locked of course. A few houses down, a zombie reached through the bars of the gate, trying to get Subaru.

"Oh shit!" he involuntarily shouted when the zombie screamed out of nowhere. Subaru recognized him as the same zombie that bit him in the previous loop. He shimmied around the zombie's reach with his back pressed against the wall. The fingers brushed his cheek as he went by. _Ahhhhhh…._

When Subaru made it to the other side of the arms he let out the air he had been holding. "Phew…." He laughed a little, what else could he do in a situation like this? "That, hehe, was something."

He continued down the path until he hit a dead end. A brick wall stood in his way, almost as high as the vine covered wall.

"Can't anything just go my way for once." He tried the gate next to him, but it was locked. He would have tried to climb it, but the pointed tips of the bars didn't look too inviting. He turned and looked at the vine wall, "Think you can support _this_?" He pointed to himself. "Well we're about to find out." He grabbed hold of one of the thicker vines.

The vines were twisted together tightly so I wasn't any real problem grabbing places to hold. The only problem was the strength of them. As soon as Subaru was hanging onto the vines with all his weight, they began to weigh down, threatening to break. _OK, nice...and slow._

Subaru slowly climbed his way to the top, at halfway he only had 5 more feet to go. The vines at the top started to rub against the hard edges of the wall it was on and snap. At 7 feet up, Subaru began to notice the vines were snapping at an alarming rate. This made him forget about being careful and quickly climb to the top. When the vines broke, Subaru lunged at the top, his fingertips barely caught the top of the wall.

"Ggguuuuuuuhhhhhh." Straining his fingers, Subaru held on for dear life. He was able to throw his other arm up and grab the top of the wall. _Ooooo, this sucks._ He used his feet to climb the wall until he was able to lay at the top. He panted from his efforts of climbing the wall, and rested.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The scream of terror almost made Subaru fall off the wall, but he caught himself before he did.

The scream came from the house that he was next to.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT! AHHHHH!" The scream was a woman, it sounded as if she was in trouble. From the back window, a chair came smashing through it. Subaru watched as a woman in a night dress stepped through the window and into the backyard. She was scared, terrified, and screaming her head off.

The woman screamed when a big man in overalls came running out of the window too, but he tripped on the ledge and fell face first into the glass. "Harold! Stop this!" The large man, who could only be Harold, got up, his face was embedded with pieces of glass. His skin was pale with purple veins. He must've turned while defending the house

Blood dripped down Harold's mouth as he regarded the woman with clear, bloodshot eyes, filled with rage and hunger. Harold got to his feet and roared at the woman, his mouth and teeth coated in blood. "RRRAAAAGGHHHHH!"

Subaru couldn't just sit back and watch this woman get killed, so he stood up from his spot and balanced his way over to the top of the brick wall. By this time, Harold was already on top of the woman, she was fending him off, but his strength was quickly overpowering her.

Subaru made it to the top of the brick wall and jumped down into the backyard.

"Harold, please!"

"RRRAAAHHHHH!"

Subaru looked around to find a weapon, he needed something now, no time to go inside and look for a knife. His eyes rested on a good sized pot that held a shrub and soil in it. _Good enough._

Subaru grabbed it by the top and ran to the struggling couple. It was too heavy to swing like a bat so he came up with another solution. He set the pot down and jumped at the side of the walker. He kicked both his feet into the side of him, pushing him off of the woman. She instantly started to crawl away on terror.

Subaru saw that the woman escaped so he retreated back to his potted plant. The walker got up as well, his eyes fixed on Subaru now. Standing up, the walker was easily a foot feet taller than him.

"RRRRAAAAHHHHGGGHH!"

Subaru picked up the pot and waited for the walker to charge. When it did, Subaru was ready. The walker was only a foot away when Subaru heaved the pot up and slammed it into the walker's chin, jerking his head back. The walker fell to the floor, motionless. Subaru dropped the pot, and walked towards the woman who was shaking in fear. Her hair was unkempt, puffing up as if she had just gotten out of bed. Her eyes darted everywhere as if she was afraid everything around her. Her legs were tucked under her and her hands were at her chest as she cowered in the corner of the yard. When Subaru approached her she looked at him with fearful eyes.

"Are you OK?"

Tears fell from her eyes as she asked Subaru, "Why…...why did my Harold attack me?"

Subaru bent down to her level, "Well in not exactly sure myself. An infection maybe, but whatever it is, it's spreading. Other people are getting it and I'm not sure how much longer we have before more of them show up." He tried to gently take her hand, but she jerked it from him. Subaru took as a sign to back off, "I'm sorry. I need you to trust me. You can't stay here, please follow me. I'll take you somewhere safe." Subaru didn't want to leave this poor woman, leaving her behind just wasn't human to Subaru.

That was when he saw it, the wound in her arm. The arms shed jerked back had what appeared to be bleeding teeth marks. And from the wound came small purple lines that slowly stretched out to cover other areas of her body.

"No….." The woman's nose began to leak mucus as she stared at Subaru. "You said that it an infection, right?" She lifted her own arm to look at the wound.

Subaru heard more of the walkers groan from somewhere inside the house, "Raaaaahhggggg…."

"Then that means I'm going to turn into something like my husband, right?" Hot tears began to fall from her eyes as she suddenly realized her fate. Doomed to become something horrible.

Subaru wanted to say something to reassure her. "Maybe you won't turn. I'm not entirely sure how it works so please just come with me so we can figure this out.

He looked through the broken window of the house and saw the silhouette of someone that had turned. _Her screaming must have attracted him._ He whispered to the woman, "We have to go now. They're already here."

"Grrraaaahhhh…" Harold the walker groaned. He threw his body over to face the two survivors on the ground. He extended a grisly hand towards them, "Raaaggghhhhhh…."

The woman looked up at the monster, a tinge of hope in her voice, "Harold?"

Harold got to his feet, as did Subaru, pulling up the woman with him. He kept a tight hold of the woman's hand he used to pull her up, "That's not Harold."

Harold sprinted at the two. Subaru shoved the woman out of the way and dodged. Harold stormed past them and hit the wall, stunning himself. Seeing his chance, Subaru wrapped one arm around the waist of the woman and put a hand over her mouth.

The woman tried to speak, but Subaru's hand kept her mouth shut. He had to keep her quiet so she didn't attract any more unwanted attention. He began to drag her to the gate that led to the gravel path.

"Mmmmmmmphhhmmm!"

Harold recovered from his mild shock and turned to where Subaru was dragging the woman. He looked at the sight and pounded his chest, letting out a powerful roar, "RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!" As if responding to the call, three more zombies exited the open window and began to run at Subaru, both blind and visually unimpaired. _Oh fuck no_.

Subaru kept dragging the woman, he reached behind himself for the handle to the gate. He found the handle and pulled it open, just as the turned were about to be on them. _It's_ now or neve _r!!_

Pulling down on the handle, Subaru threw him and the woman against the gate, launching them into the passageway. Harold lunged at them, but Subaru had already slammed the door shut. Crashing into the gate, Harold's body blocked the other zombies from advancing any further.

The woman watched, with Subaru, the zombies try and claw at them through the bars. They both stared at them, the woman watching Harold most of all.

"Thank you," the woman said quietly. She looked down at her bite wound again. At this point, the purple subsctance had covered most of her arm.

Subaru inspected the wound and told her, "I can help you get to safety. Maybe you can get treated and we-"

"Thank you, dear, but no thank you." The woman turned to Subaru and took his hand in both of hers. "I already know I don't have much time. I watched my own Harold turn into one of them because he'd been attacked. But I couldn't deal with the fact that he'd change so I tried to reason with him."

The woman traced the lines across her arm, watching them slowly move closer to her chest. "You best leave before it's too late," she said sadly.

"Since you won't come with me, what will you do now?"

Looking up, the woman smiled. "Sit here with Harold and talk to him until the end."

Subaru couldn't believe how calm this woman was about the fact she was about to turn into one of those things. If the roles had been switched, Subaru was sure he would be freaking out. Either this woman was brave, accepting, or giving up.

In the end, Subaru stayed with the woman for just another minute before she insisted he leave. He wanted to know her name just for the sake of it, but she refused to do so.

"No need to know my name since we'll never meet again."

 **3:53am**

Subaru went to another part of the vine wall and climbed it again. He reached the top much easier this time and used it to reach the brick wall. On the other side of the brick wall was the continuation of the gravel path. Subaru jumped down, moving forward in an unfamiliar area.

The occasional groan and the crunching of gravel was all Subaru heard as he walked the path. There was one time when a walker saw him walk by the gate and proceeded to try and get him through the bars. _They're not very smart. They can't open doors so they so they try and break them down._ Subaru watched as the walker grabbed the bars of the gate and shook them, red saliva flying from its disgusting mouth. _He's not going anywhere._

Subaru left the walker to himself. Even when Subaru was out of sight for a good while, the walker never left its spot. The only thing that broke him away was when a loud scream from somewhere behind him caught his attention instead.

The gravel path ended into a tiny vacant lot filled with dirt and dead grass. Subaru checked the street signs and head down the street on the right. At this point, there were no walkers in sight. Me must have reached the point that the walkers haven't gone yet. He continued on with hope, he wasn't bitten so that meant he would make it to Rem, not infected.

Somewhere not far, screams plagued the night.

 **4:41am**

When Subaru neared Rem's house he saw people were outside of their homes. Men and woman, with the occasional child, stood in their front lawns with worried expressions. With horror, he realized they were looking at Rem's house. He started to run to the house, scared on what he might find.

When he passed by somebody in their yard he heard them say to their spouse, "9-1-1 isn't working."

Ahead he saw a police cruiser with their lights on, flashing red and blue. Yes! Thank you! This must mean that Rem and Ram's dad was home.

Subaru reached the house's walkway and noticed, with absolute horror, that a trail of blood led from the cruiser to the house. Walking up to the door, Subaru saw a bloody hand print on the door.

Subaru tried the doorknob, but it didn't open. Rem and Ram didn't know about the infection. If their dad was infected and they let him in to help him, then…..It could only mean one thing. Subaru banged on the door. _Why didn't he just go to a hospital?_

"Rem!?"

Nothing.

"Ram!?"

Nothing.

Rem's face appeared in his mind, so innocent, so care free. She didn't deserve to die like this. _I'm coming, Rem!_

Subaru threw his shoulder into the door. Someone from next door called out to him, "Hey, kid! Whaddaya' doin'?" Subaru ignored him and busted the door open, the lock flew from the wooden door.

Subaru had lost his balance a bit when he busted the door open. He glanced behind him, no one followed. He wondered if that was the best plan, to wait and see what happens, but he knew he couldn't do that with his friend's life at stake. He followed the trail of blood, it was soaked into the carpet flooring and led to the couch not too far from the front door.

One side of the couch was soaking with blood, it's metallic smell wafted around the whole room. It took a moment for Subaru to realize that no one was on the couch. Then he also realized, the house was silent. No sounds of people packing bags or frantically trying to gather their things to leave, just painful silence. Thinking back, Subaru remembered the gun Ram had, the one she used to shoot him. He went over to the safe below the same shelf, but it was already open, the gun was gone. _Hopefully she used it wisely._ Subaru made a short stop for at kitchen to get a large kitchen knife. This time, he was ready to use it.

Subaru slowly followed the trail of blood that had begun at the couch and ended towards a hallway, the hallway where Rem's bedroom was. _No_. When Subaru was about to round the corner he flipped up a switch, turning on the hallway lights.

Subaru held the knife in front of him and rounded the corner. On the floor laid Ram's body, a pool of her own blood surrounded her. A chunk was taken from her neck and right cheek, exposing her teeth below. Her skin was paler, and in her hand was the gun.

Subaru fell to his knees in grief. Ram was deadOne of his life long friends was dead and he was sure it was his fault. He'd been too slow to act. He struggled to hold back tears as his shaken hand reached out to touch her intact cheek. It felt warm. This sparked some hope in him that maybe she wasn't dead.

Subaru held her hand, checking her wrist for a pulse but found none. Slowly, he opened one of her eyes and saw the lifelessness. There was no light in them, the same light he'd grown to hate and love. He started to cry as he looked at the peaceful looking girl, dead on the floor. In anger, he punched the floor. _If only I didn't stop to help the woman._ But he knew that wasn't it, he had stayed afterward, listening. It was his own fault that he didn't get here sooner, deep down he knew that. He just wanted some else to blame while he mourned.

Looking up from Ram's body, Subaru saw the broken down door of Rem's room.

"No." Subaru stopped holding Ram and got to his feet. He stumbled across the hallway, his body reacting to his hopeless belief that Rem would be alright. Slowly, he walked into her room. The only thing he saw was her father bent over her tiny body, tearing a piece of flesh from her body. That was enough for Subaru to charge her dad and sink the knife handle-deep into his head.

"You fucking bastard!" In anger, Subaru grabbed the back of Rem's dad's police uniform and threw him against the wall. He was already dead, but Subaru still took the knife from his head and plunged it in again. Subaru stabbed him 10 more times in the head before giving up and calming down. His face covered in blood, a hateful look on his eyes.

He regretfully turned to look at Rem's body. A large hole was in Rem's neck, no longer gushing blood. Subaru dropped to his knees and into Rem's pool of blood. _What did I do to deserve this?_ Subaru didn't understand why everything was being taken from him; his life, his parents, his friends, and his sanity. He was sure the last one was going to go completely soon. Looking at Rem's body, Subaru wondered if he could bring himself to kill her when she turned. He could never do such a thing and probably never would, but a small part of him wondered if Rem would rather die than stay as one of those things.

Subaru had feelings for Rem, anyone at school would tell you that their friendship was a bit closer than normal. It was the flirty type that really went nowhere when it came to starting a relationship. Rem loved Subaru, but Subaru felt more attached to someone else. He had known his friend Emilia longer and used to hang out with her a lot, but nowadays they hung out less. Still, Subaru chose Emilia for her unrelenting cute, naive nature.

A dark purple substance started to travel down Rem's neck and into her chest, arms, and legs. The substance traveled up her face and sunk into her eye sockets and straight towards her brain, A shiver ran down Subaru's spine when Rem's body twitched. He used his fingers to check her eyes, bloodshot and clear.

He started to cry again when Rem woke up and lunged at him with an ugly expression. Subaru held Rem down by the neck with his hand and grabbed the knife that was on the floor. The thing that was Rem had a look of pure hatred as she tried to take a bite out of Subaru's arm. She kept snapping her teeth at Subaru. Her hands reached behind his head and tried to pull him towards her, but she was weaker than him so it did nothing.

Subaru held the knife against the side of Rem's head, readying it. He looked at Rem with a look of sadness, "Please forgive me, Rem."

From behind Subaru came a new sound, "RRRAAAAHGGGGHAAGG!"

Subaru turned quickly to see Ram, her skin pale and purple, charge at him. Before he could do anything, Ram bite down into his neck taking a chunk out of it.

"GGAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The pain he felt was intense as his neck was forcefully ripped open by teeth.

Ram pushed Subaru onto his back, onto Rem. With Subaru no longer holding her, Rem sat up and bite into Subaru's left shoulder, down to the bone.

A new bite brought more pain to Subaru, "AAAAAHHHHHHHH! AH AH AH AHHHHHH!"

Using his good arm, Subaru was able to throw Ram off of him while she was chewing. Ram hit the wall and started to get back up. With Rem also busy chewing his flesh, Subaru was able to tear himself away from her and make his way to the door. Both Rem and Ram followed him as he went into the hallway. He headed for the bathroom door, but was grabbed by Rem in the back of his shirt.

Subaru turned around to see Rem's teeth coming at his face. He reached up with both hands, his left shoulder hurting like hell, and shoved her hard into her sister. They both went crashing down onto the floor as they slipped in Ram's pool of blood.

His vision was blurry and his body was weak when Subaru made it into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. As his life slipped from him, Subaru waited for Rem and Ram to start bashing on the door. When Subaru lifted his hand to see the dark purple substance travel down it, Rem and Ram started to hit the door, breaking it easily. They destroyed it together in only a few seconds. When they crashed in, Subaru was ready to die, he just hoped he bled to death quickly so he wouldn't have to endure so much pain.

However, Ram lunged at Subaru but didn't bite him. Her red irises darted around his face and inspected his bite, cradling her head to get closer, before she backed off, leaving Subaru to die. Subaru gave a small chuckle as he slipped into unconsciousness.

 **5:02am**

Subaru woke up. Once again unable to control his own body. This Subaru rose his head to looked up, taking in his surroundings. He was still in the bathroom, the door was still broken down, but Rem and Ram were gone. Subaru did nothing but stay sitting against the wall.

 _At least move damn you!_

"Hello?! Is everything OK in there?!" It was a call from someone outside.

 _Of all times to care, you choose to help now?_

Subaru's head jerked to the doorway and stood up. He cocked his head to the side while shambling out and into the hallway.

 _Where's Rem and Ram?_ This question came across his mind. _They've gotta be somewhere in the house._

"Hello?!"

Subaru heard the voice and turned to head towards the front door.

 _Nonononono!_

When Subaru stepped outside, someone pointed him out. "Look, there he is!"

Someone else said, "He's OK!"

Subaru's face twisted with rage as he stared at the people before him. He roared at the small crowd in front of the house, "RRRRAHHHHHGGGGGAAA!"

A feeling of uneasiness went through the crowd.

Subaru charged towards the nearest person he could see, a blonde woman in a nightdress. She was frozen in place as Subaru bit into her shoulder, a scream escaped her lips.

From behind Subaru came Rem and Ram. The twins each went for their own victims, grabbing onto them and biting whatever exposed flesh they could find. The people scattered in fear.

 _STOP THIS!_

Another woman came to try and push Subaru off of the woman he was currently eating. Subaru looked at the woman and tried to grab her. The woman jumped back and started to run when Subaru got up to chase her. She had made it across the street when a man exited the house in front of her with a shotgun. She ran past him and into the house as the man lifted the shotgun. Subaru flew back as his chest was blown away by the tiny pellets entering his body. What should have been fatal to a normal human, did not affect Subaru. He got up to his feet and ran towards the man, his chest a bloody mess of ripped flesh. When Subaru reached the shocked man, he was knocked away by the butt of the shotgun. Subaru quickly got to his hands and knees, but was kicked onto his back by the man. He put a foot on Subaru's chest to prevent him from getting up. Subaru still clawed the air in front of him to try and grab the man.

Pumping the shotgun, a shell fell out of it and hit the floor. The man aimed the shotgun at Subaru's head and left a bloody stump in place of it.

 **5:08am**


	4. Save Everyone

**AN: Septorex- I don't think I'll ever do a lemon to be honest. It's just something I would be uncomfortable writing. I would feel awkward, but don't get me wrong, I read lemons myself I just would rather not write one. So nothing ecchi on this author's page.**

 **Thanks to JDUBZ for being an awesome Beta Reader as usual!**

Chapter 4: Save Everyone

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

Subaru opened his eyes again for the fourth time. Same night, same exact time. The only thing different was Subaru. While the zombie banged on the front door, same as usual, Subaru immediately got out of bed and retrieved the metal bat from his parent's room.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Subaru rotated the bat so he could see the signature in the metal, "Don't fail me now." A fiery look replaced Subaru's previously scared one. He approached the door with determination and hatred. He thought about what these things did to Rem, to Ram, and their father. He hated what they had almost made him do and what they _did_ make him do. He wanted nothing more than to see them dead. They'd caused him so much pain that he was going to make sure they felt it too. _Every last one of these fuckers are dead._

He made sure the other two zombies approached the door before taking his place at the couch. He sat in it with a good view of the front door, waiting. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the zombies tore through the door. And when they did, Subaru was waiting.

There was a fire in Subaru's eyes, and a boiling pot of hatred settled in his stomach. It was something he'd never experienced never before. So much overwhelming rage was about to be expelled by force.

Grabbing the lamp next to the couch, Subaru got ready with his bat. He threw the lamp to the floor, shattering it with a loud crash. The zombies instantly turned towards the sound and began to quickly move towards it.

Subaru raised the bat high above his head.As hard and as quick as he could, Subaru brought the bat down on top of the woman's head. Her skull caved in, sending shattered bits of her skull deep into her now destroyed brain. Red chunks of what could only be brain flew from her head, some landing on Subaru's clothes.

Subaru almost threw up, not expecting such a gruesome outcome, but kept it inside. The bat was miraculously somehow stuck inside the woman's head. Hesitant, he placed a foot on the limp walker and kicked the corpse off.

The two other walkers stopped in their tracks, the sound of the woman falling the floor catching their attention.

The two zombies turned to where the woman was. The bloody one bent down and grasped at the woman. While he did so, Subaru was still trying to get over the first kill. Before, he never he would ever have to kill someone, but now he had. All he could do to reassure what he had done was good was knowing that these monsters were anything but nice. They would just kill others if he left.

After successfully preventing himself from throwing up a second time, Subaru looked back at the two others. He was interested at their behavior. The bloodied one was bent over the woman, appearing to be smelling her.

Subaru watched the other zombie join in as well, bending down and cradling his nose just above a part of her exposed flesh. The bloodied one lifted its head back up, appearing to exhale a ghastly moan just before picking up the woman's arm and tearing off a mouthful of flesh from it.

Again, Subaru tried not to throw up as he witnessed the two zombies begin to eat the woman. The one armed zombie bite at the woman's abdomen then used its hand to tear it open and shove intestine into his mouth.

This went against what he'd originally thought. In zombie movies, the zombies never ate eachother, even after death. But these guys didn't seem to care. She had been infected so wouldn't that mean she was safe from being eaten? At what point do the zombies eat their own kind?

Apparently the third time wasn't the charm and Subaru found he was going to puke. The smells and the sights were just too much for his stomach. Turning around, he ran for the glass sliding door, not caring how much noise he made. His hand over his mouth, he found it harder to hastily open and close it with only his other hand. Finally outside, he found the nearest potted plant and emptied his stomach into it. He felt sorry for the plant when he finished, lifting his head and taking deep breaths. He never found the cool, night air any more refreshing than he had that moment now that the smells of stomach acid were no more.

Throwing his head back, he tried to recollect his thoughts.

The zombies had eaten their own kind, but only after she died. And just before doing so, both of them had used their sense of smell to detect something come off of the woman. Did zombies have their own smell? Is that how the blind ones determined who was and wasn't a zombie? Maybe. Subaru thought of his previous life where he experienced something similar. After being bitten, the zombified Ram had reached him, but didn't do anything but leave him. He remembered that she had gotten close to him, but for what? Maybe to smell his wound, to sense if he had already been turning? It was too weird because of that was the case then the zombies were more intelligent than he'd given them credit for.

But that still didn't explain why the two other zombies had turned on the woman once she died. Wouldn't they still smell whatever she was giving off for being ome of them? Many theories went across his mind, but none many any sense. In the end, Subaru determined he was just wasting time and needed to leave. He got up and took one last look at his house. What he saw gave him goosebumps.

The bloody zombie appeared to be looking outside, possibly even at Subaru. It wasn't doing anything other than staring at him while the other zombie was still eating. There was a tense moment where Subaru wondered what it was going to do. But then he remembered what he needed to do and got up, leaving through the back gate.

 **3:02am**

Subaru reached the brick wall again. Using his memory, he chose to climb up the part of the vine wall that was more sturdy. He reached the top and was making his way to the other side of the brick wall when he heard a woman.

"Harold? What is that?"

A deep, male voice responded, "I don't know, dear."

Subaru stopped in his tracks when he remembered the woman's voice. He turned his head to see the same woman from his previous loop. Holding her hand was Harold, alive and well. He was wearing the same overalls he would die in.

Harolds voice boomed as he yelled at Subaru, "Hey, kid! Get down from there before I call the cops!"

Subaru stared at the couple for a moment or two. The woman was holding her husband's hand tightly as she looked uncertainly at Subaru. Harold, who was a foot taller than his wife, stood with his chest puffed as if daring Subaru to try anything.

Knowing he couldn't waste any more time, Subaru knew he couldn't stay to help themLooking at Harold, Subaru could tell the man prided himself for being strong and relied on strength to solve problems. And obviously that wasn't the right way to do things. Subaru grunted and tossed his father's prized bat onto their backyard.

Harold put an arm in front of his wife, being skeptical about what ever it was Subaru had dropped in the dark.

Before leaving, Subaru left them with knowledge he hoped would save both of their lives without him having to be their. "Keep you're distance from them. Don't get bitten."

Subaru dropped down the wall and started to run to Rem's.

 **3:56am**

The silent night remained undisturbed on Rem's street, not a single soul was out when Subaru arrived. Running by the dark houses, Subaru began to think of what he'll say when he got there. They, of course, wouldn't believe him if he said that zombies were only a few blocks down. _Damn it._

He'd only have to hope they believed him one way or another. _I'll come up with something hopefully when I get there._

A few minutes later, Subaru stepped onto the porch of Rem's house. He sat down on the steps to rest for a bit before knocking. In the distance, an ambulance siren was going off. The night was so peaceful here compared to the bloodbath that was occurring where he lived.

Subaru scanned the street for any sign of a zombie before knocking on the door.

* * *

 _Knock Knock Knock_

"Hmmm...huh?" Ram woke up at the sound of knocking. She blindly reached for her phone on the nightstand next to her bed. After rummaging around a bit, she was able to wrap her fingers around the device and press a button. A bright light practically blinded Ram as it assaulted her eyes.

She put the phone screen down on her chest and squinted her eyes. After raising the phone again, she was able to make out the time on the phone. Looking at it, she whined in a sleepy voice, "4 o'clock in the morning?" She dropped her phone onto her chest. She turned over in her bed hoping the person would go away. She closed her eyes.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

Ram cringed when the knocking came back, squeezing her eyes shut and gripping the blanket in a tight fist.

 _KnockKnockKnock_

She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, sighing with annoyance, "Uhhhhhhhh!" The blanket fell off the bed when Ram removed it to see who was at the door. Before leaving her room, Ram grabbed the taser, next to her kendo trophies, that her dad put in her room to use in self defense for the times he wasn't home. _Only use it in emergencies, like a house intruder or something_ , he had said.

Rem was walking down the other side of the walkway when Ram exited her room. Rem was trying to rub the sleep from her blue eyes, but to no avail. "Who is it, sister?"

Ram walked up to Rem and hugged her with a bright smile, "I don't know, Rem. Just go back to bed. I'll handle it."

Sleepily nodding her head, Rem slowly stumbled back into her room, "OK."

Ram kept her smile until Rem was out of sight. Now frowning, she made her way to the front door. She yawned as she looked through the peephole. What she saw was Subaru, his hands shaking as he kept looking behind himself. She wondered a lot of things about why Subaru was here.

Despite being friends, this sight didn't sit well with Ram. "What are you doing here, Barusu?"

Upon hearing Ram's voice, Subaru's face quickly relaxed as he let his arms go limp. He slumped his body forward and sighed, "Oh thank god! Ram, let me in. I need to talk to you and Rem before your dad gets here." Subaru was one of the few friends that knew that Rem and Ram's father worked late.

Inside his head, Subaru scolded himself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Why'd the hell you make it sound so weird?!_

Ram squinted her eyes, "I'm not doing that, Barusu."

Subaru knew she was going to say that, but had nothing to say that would change her mind. "Can't I ju-."

"No."

"You didn't even hear my whole question."

"I don't have to, the answer is no."

Subaru held his hand out, "What if my question was to ask if I can't come in your house? Then your answer was no, meaning I _can_ come in."

Ram sighed loudly so Subaru could hear it through the door, "What do you want, Barusu?"

Subaru raised his hand so Ram could see it, holding up a few fingers, "Just one, no two. Waitwaitwaitwait….four minutes of your time or more depending on whether you believe me or not."

"The chances of me believing you are slim." Ram looked Subaru up and down, a shiver ran down her spine. The sight made her even more certain she wasn't going to open the door.

Subaru began to talk in a more panicked sense as he glanced behind him. "Believe me or not, Ram, but there is something out there changing people." He pointed towards the the direction he came. "It's making them…..violent, crazy, blood thirsty…..hungry. Like, well, like a zombie!" Subaru shuffled closer to the door to whisper even though no one else was nearby, "People are eating other people, Ram. I don't know what it is, but something is making people attack anyone they see, _anyone_." He thought of their dad, Quarke Tenshi, killing them.

"Why are you covered in blood, Subaru?"

Subaru looked down at his shirt. Splatters of blood were stained it. The result of killing the zombie at his house. Even his hands had blood on them, some of it coated into his fingernails.

Hesitant, Subaru looked up at the peephole, "I did what I had to do to survive. Please believe me when I say this, Ram, but…" Subaru hesitated for a second. _Tell her. **No, don't tell her.** She'll find out anyway, so tell her. **You tell her, she won't believe you.** Why not try?_ , "...your dad's turning into one of them."

Silence. Ram said nothing. She looked through the peephole, glaring at Subaru, who couldn't see her.

"Ram, please. When he gets here...he _will_ kill both you and Rem."

Ram threw open the door in anger, surprising Subaru. She quickly raised the taser, aiming it at Subaru. Yelling, she claimed, "My father would never do something like that! You know nothing, Subaru! He and I would give our own lives before we let anything hurt Rem!"

His eyes fixated on the taser, Subaru tried not to make sudden movements. When Ram finished speaking Subaru could only look at her sadly, "You haven't seen what's been happening. If anyone here knows nothing, it's you." He started to raise his voice, his emotions that he kept pent up were directed towards a shocked Ram, " _I've_ seen it all! _I've_ been face to face with those things! _I_ had to kill one! _I_ had to take the life of a people I never even knew! I didn't know what else to do!"

Subaru started to choke up the more he was reminded of his past experiences in his new 'world', "No, Ram! You're the one that knows nothing! You may think that you're protecting, Rem, but the longer you stay here the worse! I came here to keep Rem and you safe. If I have to, I will force you to come with me! I don't know how but I will!"

Ram backed into the house to retrieve the house phone, keeping the taser pointed at Subaru the entire time.

Dialing her father's number, she put the phone up to her ear.

Subaru looked sadly at Ram, "If you're calling the police they won't answer. Whatever is happening now is happening almost everywhere."

Ram practically spat at Subaru, "I'm calling my father to come back and get rid of you."

Subaru said nothing as the call went unanswered. Ram looked at Subaru hatefully as she removed the phone from her ear.

"Sister?" Rem came up behind Ram. Ram and Subaru's yelling must have woken her up again. "Who are you talking too?"

Her eyes lit up when she saw Subaru, "Subaru?" Pausing to take in what was happening, Rem saw Ram with a taser aimed at him, he had blood on his shirt, and an ugly expression was on his face.

Instantly, Rem's face dropped as she looked at Subaru with unease. "Subaru, what….what are you doing?" She scooted slightly to hide behind Ram.

Seeing Rem look at him like that and seek Ram for protection crushed Subaru. He was trying to help them, both of them. However, he didn't seem to have gained their trust. There was no way he was going to get Ram's appraisal, but maybe he could get Rem's. He was her best friend, surely she would believe him on some degree.

"Rem, I came here to save you and Ram. I know it's far fetched, but there's an infection that's spreading fast and it making people go mad. I don't-."

"He says father is infected too and is coming here _just_ to kill us."

Subaru took a step towards Ram with a finger pointed towards her, an irritated expression on his face. "That is NOT what I said!"

"Then how do you know, Subaru? How do you know anything about what my father plans to do?"

Subaru paused before answering, knowing that Ram and Rem would never believe him. "Because….I've seen it already. I don't know how, but I've already relivedthis night three times already. In each of those three nights, I die, but I wake up back in my house when I do." Subaru saw Ram roll her eyes. "Each time I die, I learn more about the infection that's spreading. I know you keep a gun locked in a safe under a table with the lock combination hidden in the table's top right drawer. I know you'd pull it on anyone, including me, who threatens to hurt, Rem. I know that your father will come here, not knowing how the infection works, and kill you."

Ram was taken aback at the mention of the gun, no one except Ram, Rem, and their father knew about it. However, this still didn't sway her into believing him. "When my father gets here, you plan on using that on him?" She gestured to the gun while spitting acid at Subaru.

Subaru looked at the cowering Rem, her eyes told him that she was scared of what he'd say.

"Only if….only if I have to." He looked down in shame.

"Wrong answer."

Two metal rods penetrated his skin and sent electricity coursing through his body. Subaru convulsed and fell to the ground when his legs were no long able to support him.

"SISTER!"

* * *

 **4:24am**

Subaru woke up one the floor, handcuffed to the piping of a kitchen sink. He groggily looked at the metal ring surrounding his wrist and gave it a shake. "Huh? Wha-What is this?"

"It's for your own good and our safety, Subaru." Ram was standing next to Subaru, looking down at him with a frown.

Rem was in the living room that was openly connected to the kitchen. From the kitchen, Subaru could see the front door, the couch, almost everything. "I'm sorry, Subaru darling. I didn't want Sister to do it, but…..she knows what's best." Rem looked down at her hands. Rem was always dependent on her sister. She always considered Ram as her superior just because she was a few minutes older. Subaru never got why she thought this, like seriously? Just like….2 minutes or less. Maybe not even a minute, could be seconds. Either way, it still didn't make sense to Subaru. He had brought up the subject to Rem a few times, but every time he asked it was always, _"Because my sister is the greatest."_

Subaru looked back at the cuffs that rendered him helpless. He was the only one of the three who knew just how dangerous this was. He gave the cuffs a more vigorous shake as he looked at Ram pleadingly, "You don't know what you've just done." Their dad was on the way here, and when he gets here and Subaru is still stuck…. _I'm going to die._

"Give me the key, Ram. I'll..I'll..I'll..I'll just take these off and be on my way, I swear!"

Ram shook her head at him, "Do you really think I would do that after what you told me." Her eyes lowered.

Subaru looked down at his bloody shirt, realization struck him, "Nonononononono, it's not like that! I already explained it to you! This was out of self defense!" _Good reason, good reason._

Rem walked up to Subaru as Ram walked away with a disappointed look on her face. "Subaru….Rem wants to believe you….but father will help sort this all out." Rem bent down to Subaru's level, but kept her distance. When Subaru noticed this, it broke his heart. "Rem needs her Subaru to stay strong." It was too late for her comforting words, Subaru's hope for this loop was gone. Ram didn't trust him, Rem was scared of him, and their father was going to come and kill everyone including him. It was over.

"I've tried, Rem. There's only so much I can take, only so much. I don't think there's anyone in the world strong enough to truly fit in now." He looked at Rem, his mind made up, "This isn't our world anymore. It belongs to them." He pointed outside the window at the front. Flashing blue and red lights illuminated from the dark. Ram noticed the lights and began walking tot the front door. "He's infected, Rem, and when he turns….it won't be pretty."

"Father…" Rem stood up to walk outside with Ram.

Subaru reached up to grasp Rem's hand. He pulled so she would look into his eyes that were on the verge of tears. "Rem, no! I don't want to see you both die again! Once was still too much!"

Rem was confused, "Seeing me die? When did I die?"

Subaru ignored her, "Run from here, I don't care where you go, just leave before it's too late! Please!"

Rem looked at him uncertainly until she heard Ram.

From outside, a panicked Ram was trying to carry her injured father into the house. His blue hair was matted with blood while his blue eyes were drooping. With a muscular build, he was pretty big compared to his children. His right hand was clasping his neck, trying to slow down the bleeding from a large wound that was in it. Drops of blood fell to the floor ground, making a trail.

When Quark could barely support his own weight he had to lean on Ram, but she couldn't carry all his weight. She called out to Rem, "Rem! Father is hurt!"

In a flash, Rem was already running to the front door, Subaru tried to stop her, "No, Rem! He's infected!" She didn't pay attention to his words.

Quark didn't notice Subaru as he limped towards the couch with the help of Rem and Ram. He practically threw himself onto it as he bled into the fabric.

Ram had tears in her eyes as she inspected his wound, "Father, we have to get you to a hospital!" She and Rem helped apply pressure to the wound to prevent more blood from pouring out.

Through gasps, Quark was able to say, "Hospitals...too full…something is...wrong." He held onto Rem's hand and removed it lightly, "Rem, get…get the med...medical supplies from the closet."

Rem hurried her way to a door located in the hallway and retrieved a large medical box full of bandages, alcohol, swabs, bandaids, almost everything needed to treat a wound or rash.

Quark did the same to Ram, "Honey, get the gun."

Ram looked shocked at what her dad was saying, "Wha-What? Why?"

"I said get the gun!" Quak started clenching his teeth as a pain started to travel up his neck.

Ram stood her ground and tried to put her bloody hands back on the wound, "I'm not leaving you, we need to stop the bleeding."

Quark grabbed Ram's wrist and told her with pain in his eyes, "Get..the gun..now."

Ram still waited for a few seconds until she saw Rem come back with bandages, gauze, and alcohol. Then she went to the drawer to find the slip of paper.

Entering the combination to the safe, Ram retrieved the pistol. She held it uncertainly, never having used it before.

While Rem was bandaging up her father's wound, Ram held the gun out for him to take. He looked at her through squinted teeth, "No, I won't be of use with that right now. Give it to Rem, she's a better shot."

Ram handed the gun to Rem, hoping her shooting lessons with Quark would pay off.

Having already handled a gun like this during the many time her and her dad went shooting together, Rem still felt uneasy, "Father, why do we need the gun?"

Subaru could only watch in horror as their dad was slowing turning. They were so focused on bandaging the wound that they covered up the evidence of the purple substance spreading in his skin.

"There were...riots downtown...I was in...the thick of it...when someone...bit me." With the wound bandaged up and only slowly seeping through the wraps, Rem and Ram sat quietly to listen. "I...I...I took them down...and ran to...my car...I don't know...why, but they started to...chase me even though I was...I was driving away." He adjusted in his spot to rest his head on a part of the couch that didn't have his blood on it. "They were...angry. People like that...were everywhere...It was a mad house. That's...that's why we...need the gun...for protection."

Ram looked at Subaru. He was right.

"What is that, Father?" Rem placed the gun to the side and got up. She inspected Quarke's face, purple lines were traveling up from his neck. His face was scrunch up in pain. More lines were visible going down his arms.

Subaru's eyes widened, he began to tug hard to hopefully break the chain of the cuffs, "Rem! Don't go near him!"

Jumping back from Subaru's sudden outburst, Rem turned to look at Subaru, "Subaru, why do you yell at Rem?" She looked back at her father who was looking back at her with a strange look, his eyes were foggy. "Father?"

Rem screamed in fear when her father lunged forward and clamped his jaws on her shoulder.

Subaru watched in sickening horror as his whole world came crashing down yet again. "REM!" He started to kick at the pipe he was attached to. Kicking it with all his might, the pipe actually began to bend, Subaru kept at it hoping it would disconnect soon.

Rem forcefully tore herself from her father's jaws. She cried from the pain as she stumbled back and fell into Ram's arms.

Ram looked down in horror at Rem's shoulder, savagely ripped open and bleeding. Her father had done this, just like Subaru said he would. When she thought this, Subaru voice hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Ram, that's not your dad anymore! You have to kill it!"

Ram looked at Subaru with angry tears falling down her face, "No, I can't kill my father! He's done nothing but love us!"

"Ram!"

Ram looked back at her father who was now running at her. She threw Rem to the side and ran into the hallway, towards her room. She turned back around to see her father run into the wall hard. It would have been comical if the situation wasn't so frightening.

Ram couldn't talk because she was scared out of her mind on why her father was acting like this. She slowly back away, noticing that her father was now jerking his head around, looking..no, listening.

Bump.

Ram's back hit her room door, causing a loud bumping noise.

Quarke's head jerked in Ram's direction, listening for a confirmation noise of some sort. When Ram opened her room door, Quarke charged.

With his strong muscles and fast sprint, Quark was able to mow down the door with almost no resistance. However, being blind caused him to trip on the fallen door, slamming on the ground.

Reaching into her closet, Ram brought out her wooden kendo sword, a bokken, knowing that she would have to use it on her father if she had to.

Subaru had said that people were changing and that their father was one of them. She held onto the hope that maybe they can change back.

"Father, please stop this!"

Quark got to his feet and turned towards Ram's voice. He tilted his head a little before he started running at her.

Without thinking, Ram swung the sword and hit her father on the side. While it did possibly snap a rib and make Quark stumble a bit, Ram looked in shock and fear as he brushed it off like nothing. Her scream was muffled by he father's hand that had reached out towards he. Before she knew it, Quark had lifted her chin and tore his teeth through her throat. Weak gurgles escaped her mouth as her efforts to escape grew weaker.

Ram tried to hit her father while he ate her esophagus. The bite proved to be fatal, blood gushed out in large amounts as Ram went still. Her hands fell to her side as her mouth shut, cutting off the silent scream.

Rem ran into the room in hopes of helping, but found that she was too late, "NO!"

Hearing a new voice, Quark released Ram, letting her body fall to the floor. The sight of her father's face twisted with ugly rage and covered in Ram's blood made her sick to her stomach.

Subaru was right, this wasn't their father. Their father would never do something so horrible, so inhumane. Rem raised the gun she picked up at the couch. Her words were sad and hollow as she threatened the man who killed her sister. "Stop this now or I will….kill you."

Quark ignored the warning and ran at Rem, tripping on the fallen door again.

Rem retreated all the way to her bedroom door to put space between them. Quark had lost Rem again getting to his feet and only stood in place, listening. The sounds that Subaru creating to escape his imprisonment was what now caught his attention.

"Raaaaaggghhhhh…"

Quarke moved to the doorway of the living room and was going to make his way to the defenseless Subaru when Rem yelled at the man, her voice sounded angry, "No! I won't allow you to hurt anyone anymore!"

Hearing Rem again, Quark ran at her.

A tear formed in Rem's eyes as she pulled the trigger. A clean shot, straight through the heart. Quark stumbled but stayed on his feet. The power of the shot knocked him back a bit.

Subaru heard the gunshot, he began to hit the pipe harder. The pipe bent more and more every time he hit it. After hearing three more gunshots, the pipe broke off from the the connection point in the wall and sprayed Subaru with water. He was free.

When Quark didn't fall, Rem stared in horror as he turned to her again and ran. She fired three more shots into various parts of his body, but they all did almost nothing. Quark collided with a screaming Rem, and threw her to the ground, increasing the pain in her bleeding shoulder. The gun flew out of her hand, landing not far off.

Quark snapped at Rem, his bloody teeth trying to tear into her flesh. Rem closed her eyes and groaned as her shoulder couldn't push on him any longer. After only a few seconds of excruciating pain, Rem gave up, going limp. However, Quarke stopped when he discovered something. He sniffed the air, a smell only he could detect was coming from Rem.

Rem cried in fear as Quark lowered his head to put his nose against the bite wound he caused, the purple lines had already began to travel down her arms and up her neck. Rem yelped when he reached up to touch it. The yelp caused him to turn his head towards her, red saliva dropped down into her face as he growled.

The metallic sound of a gun being cocked brought his attention away from Rem and to his right. That's where Subaru stood, the gun in his hand.

"Raaaaghhhhh…"

Before Quark could close his mouth from groaning at Subaru, he inserted the barrel into Quark's mouth. Feeling this new sensation brought anger to Quark. He roared with the gun in his mouth and started to claw at Subaru. With a neutral look with no emotion, Subaru put a hole into Quark's head.

Red blood painted the walls as Quark's head jerked back. He fell limp, leaning on the wall.

Rem was still beneath him so Subaru shoved Quark's body off of her.

"Subaru." Was all Rem said as Subaru removed her father from on top of her.

Subaru dropped to his knees and rested Rem's head on his lap. He stupidly asked, "Are you okay?"

Rem looked into Subaru's sad eyes, her's filled with pain, "Rem feels...bad." Her skin was getting pale. Subaru softly held one of her hands and watched the purple lines spread to her fingertips.

"Will Rem end up like my father?"

Subaru was taken aback by Rem's question. It seems she understood what was happening to her.

The first tears of many that night finally fell from Subaru's eyes. Rem was going to turn, there was no doubt about it. _Unless…_

Subaru put up a weak smile as tears fell from his face, "You'll be alright, Rem. I'll make sure no one else hurts you, okay?"

With the purple lines reaching her cheeks, Rem nodded, but she didn't smile. Rem knew what was going to happen, no amount of lying from Subaru would change that.

Rem wrapped her fingers around Subaru's hand, "Please stay with me, Subaru darling. I want you with me till the end."

Subaru had a genuine smile on his face as he kissed Rem on the forehead, she was burning up, "I'd never leave you, Rem. We're in this together."

Rem tightened her grip around Subaru's hand, "Subaru darling..." An unbearable pain struck her as the purple lines sunk into her eye sockets. She let go of Subaru's hand to cradle her head. She screamed in pain through clenched teeth as if she were being tortured.

Subaru held Rem steady so she didn't fall off of his lap. He looked as Rem suddenly started to change into a zombie before his eyes. He could feel his will to live break as Rem was torn from his life in only a few minutes. He brushed away some of her hair that had fallen in from of her face, "It'll be okay, Rem."

Finally, Rem relaxed after a short ten seconds.

"Rrraaaaagggghhh…" Rem looked up at Subaru, her eyes bloodshot. Her face twisted in anger as she jerked towards him, but Subaru stopped her with his arm.

Subaru held Rem in a choke hold to prevent her from biting him. He looked away from her as she snapped at him. Her once innocent face showed only hatred and hunger. _Will this happen every time?_

Subaru brought the gun to Rem's temple. He wondered if Rem was able to see herself act as a zombie just as he was able to. She would see everything that Subaru was about to do. _Please don't hate me._

Unable to control his own body, Subaru started to hyperventilate as he tried to pull the trigger, but couldn't find it within himself to kill her. He finally looked down at Rem, seeing her eyes looking up at him with hatred.

Her snapping teeth and horrible face cause him to look away again. He had to do it, if he didn't then she would go out and infect more people. He had to end it here, but he didn't want to lose Rem. There was only one way to save them. He looked at her father with complete hatred. _It's all your fault._

He came to the conclusion as he looked back at Rem. "I'm going to save you." He shut his eyes tight as he pulled the trigger, feeling her blood splatter on his legs.

Subaru began to completely break down. His mind absolutely crushed under what he had to do. He gently moved Rem's body off of him, yelling in anguish, "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

 _There's no other way._

Subaru jerked the gun to his head. An image of Rem's beautiful face framed in the hallway made him hesitate. He was about to force his finger to pull the trigger and end his own life when the front door suddenly burst open. Several neighborhood men, armed with weapons of their own, flooded into the living room. Their reactions to the blood on the floor and furniture were nothing short of shock and terror. Despite having heard gunshots, they never thought they're walk into something so gruesome. It looked as if a massacre had taken place.

Their attention was directed towards where a trail of blood led them to the hallway that resided three of the people involved with the incident. They found Subaru with two bodies around him, both with bullet wounds. And what Subaru held in his hand could only be determined as the murder weapon.

They found Subaru, struggling to end his own life, but one of the men quickly disarmed him by knocking the gun away.

They all immediately held Subaru down, who gave no resistance to the treatment. His eyes were devoid of life, the youthful glimmer that normally accompanied teens his age was gone, having been lost not long ago.

Subaru himself paid no attention to what happened after. What happened after this was a blur. He remembers being yelled at by the men, but offered no idea that he had even heard them. But he does remember their faces. Looks of anger and disgust were the only expressions the people had for him. Their words were muffled, lost in his head in a sea of empty promises and hopeless goals.

He was roughly thrown to the asphalt, his face being squished against the rough rocks. The pain he felt during his citizens arrest went unnoticed by himself. His head was lifted up by someone who asked him a question. Unable to give an answer, Subaru allows the man to drop his head again to resume the mistreatment.

In the end, one decided to drive him to the police station since none of the lines were working. It was a sign they all saw as disturbing, but decided it would be best to bring him in immediately rather than wait.

His wrists tied together with wire, Subaru finds himself thrown into the back of someone's car. He gives no words when two other men enter the car.

As they begin to drive down the street, Subaru takes in the sight of Quark's police cruiser. Quietly, he asks himself, "Why me?"

One of the men hears him, but did nothing but shoot him a look of hatred.

As they drive it becomes clear to them all that something was terribly wrong. Slowly, they began to notice the occasional dead body lying on the floor.

 _If I just I had gotten there sooner. I shouldn't stop. I need to save them._

Subaru watches with the men as they notice the subtle then drastic changes. He regrets having ever done anything that wasn't saving his friends. He wanted the safe, but ended up doing nothing. His attempts to talk to them had gone no where so he knows it would never work.

A woman, her face smeared with blood, came running up to the car, pleading for the men to let her inside the vehicle. Subaru is lost in thought, his mind no longer tied to this world as the men let the woman get inside the car. She pleads for them to take her to the hospital since she appeared to be bleeding profusely. Her pained wails and the frantic questioning from the men went unheard by Subaru.

 _I can't save them if I can't get them to understand._

Quickly, the surrounding neighborhood began to look like a war zone. There were cars crashed into trees and houses, bodies littered the floor, puddles of blood flowed down into the gutters. People screamed, their cries for help being worthless since no one would come and save them.

 _But what if they're not the ones I need to save._

Slowly, Subaru began to function properly, his mind working away at the problem. Perhaps it wasn't Rem and Ram that needed saving. Maybe, just maybe, it was Quark that was the damsel in distress. He, technically, was the cause of everything with his problem saving Rem and Ram. If Subaru alone goes to their house Rem and Ram they won't believe him until it's too late. But if he had their father, healthy and well, then he can persuade them to get to safety.

It was a small spark of hope, but it was enough to pull Subaru out of his state of mental paralysis. "I can do it...I...I can save them."

The man next to Subaru asks, "What?"

Meanwhile, the woman began to wail in pain as a purple substance traveled quickly up her neck and across her face. Neither of the men knew what was happening, but Subaru did. He tried to say something, but the woman had already turned and was trying to attack the man at the wheel.

The sudden attack from the woman made the man lose control of the car and swerve it off the road. They drive across multiple lawns, tearing through wooden fences and leafy bushes before crashing head on into a tree.

Subaru almost blacked out upon impact, his head hitting the back of the front seat. His vision doubled, he could barely make out the totaled front of the car. Looking over, he could tell the man next to him had lived while the one up front had died. Apparently not aware of buckling up, the driver had not flown outside of the front windshield, but more so busted a hole out with his head alone.

Over the ringing in his ears, Subaru could make out the sounds of screaming. He lifted his head up, looking out the shattered windows. People were running everywhere while zombies chased them down, one by one taking a life.

Knowing he couldn't stay, Subaru struggled to get his head right. He tried to open the door, but found that it was jammed. He threw his body into the door then froze, noticing that the woman was waking up. The woman looked around until she caught sight of the driver and started eating at his corpse. Now trapped in an enclosed space with a slow eating monster, Subaru was more urgent to leave the car.

Again, Subaru started throwing his weight into the door, hoping it would be enough to budge it open. However, it didn't work and the woman heard him. Snarling, she turned in her seat and started crawling her way over to him. Subaru started to throw his weight quicker, but knew it wasn't making a difference. The woman reached out and grabbed Subaru by the collar, leaning her head in to have her first taste.

Suddenly, the window next to Subaru shattered completely, spraying him with glass. The woman's head was obliterated by a shower of pellets moving faster than the speed of sound. Her limp body fell into Subaru's lap, blood from the woman's neck soaking his pants.

Before Subaru could even wonder what had happened, he heard a voice come from outside the car. "Ah, what the hell? I was watching that!"

Looking over, Subaru could see two men; one dressed in a button down while the other wore a suit. Apparently, the button down had been the one whining.

"You take too much pleasure in watching people suffer," the suit guy said, a shotgun in his hand.

The button down rolled his eyes. "Is that not why _you're_ in this profession?"

"I never wanted to be." Suit growled, his face turning sour. "I was forced to."

Button down chuckled, sarcastically saying, "Right, and I never wanted to have to kill my own friends. We don't always get what we want, we just have to deal the hand given to us." He pulled a gun out from his back pocket and pointed it at Subaru, whom was still trying to open the door. "You may not appreciate our job, but it's the only thing keep us alive. So you best start liking it or she won't like you."

There was a flash, and then Subaru's world went dark.


	5. Downtown

**AN: Mathew Yan- I'm shooting for 40 chapters or so. I'm not even done with all the introductions for the main set of characters. Rem and Ram haven't fully been introduced, Quarke is here but hasn't really done much but kill his own family, and Emilia is yet to come. Some other side characters will come along to add to the making allies aspect in a zombie apocalypse. I also still need to finish the plot, add more conflicts, put some death, death, and even more death, throw in looping situations, and then finish with a conclusion.**

 **JDUBZ is the man with the plan when it comes to Beta Reading this and every chapter I write!**

Chapter 5: Downtown

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

A sudden stop only to start just the same.

Same time, same place, waking up in the same spot.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

The same thumping, every time. Subaru sat up from his bed. He'd been killed, practically shot on sight by the two men. But why? One of them had stated that what they were doing was their profession of sorts. Or maybe t was just one of those people that took the opportunity of chaos to delve deep into their deepest, darkest desires. With the law too distracted with the crisis, they wouldn't have anyone that would enact justice on them while they committed crimes. The thought made him sick to the stomach. He'd be lying if her said he hadn't been looking for a way out anyway, but he never thought he'd meet his end at the hands of his own kind.

But for now he had bigger problems. He needed to save Quark himself to prevent him from becoming infected. He didn't wasn't what had happened to happen again.

He fears he'll fail and it'll all end up like it did last time. What they did to Rem, Ram, Quark, and worst of all, what they'll do to Emilia, he had to stop it. No, he _wanted_ to stop it. Breaking this cycle was his ultimate goal. What happened after didn't matter to him just yet.

 _Downtown._

Subaru had to get there and save Quark if he ever wanted to keep everyone safe. With Quark not infected, Rem and Ram would be safe from him. _Safe for only a short while._ The infection was fast, if he wasn't faster than it, all his hard work would be for naught.

However, there was one more problem he had to solve. He had to find his parents. Subaru hadn't the slightest idea where they were, but with Quark's help maybe, just maybe he could find them. Quark was his only hope of ever finding his parents.

But first, he had to save Quark.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Subaru had already decided what to do when he previously died. There was an old bike of his in the garage that he never used. _I guess now's the best time to use it._

Subaru went to his parents' room to retrieve his dad's bat, the same weapon he had been using since the beginning, and he was going to use it to end this loop and save those he loved most.

* * *

Quietly, Subaru crawled out of his bedroom window. He heard the zombies break through his front door and took that as his opputunity to dash for the garage. It was small, yet big enough for one car and some storage space.

Boxes of various junk were strewn around. Subaru sneezed when a cloud of dust was kicked up as he moved some boxes. Hiding beneath a big stack of boxes was his red bike. It was a gift from his grandmother when he turned 16. Although, he was pretty sure it was an attempt by his father to get him to go outside more. It didn't work.

He jerked on the bike, releasing it from its prison. The bike was dusty and dirty, but there was no time to clean it now, he had to get moving and find Quarke.

Hopping on, Subaru realized just how bad of a condition the bike was in. Every time he pedaled a loud squeaking sound would come from the gears. Looking down, Subaru could see the rusted metal of the bike, the chain was looking a bit weak.

Subaru still kept pedaling as fast as he could. "Things could be worse." He rode for 12 minutes, making it halfway downtown when things took a turn for the worst.

He was going fast, but as he rode past houses walkers would heard the squeaking and ran after Subaru.

"RRRRAAAAGGGHHHHHH!"

Subaru dared to look over his shoulder to see about 20 walkers giving chase. They ran quickly and sure enough they started to catch up to Subaru, who was growing tired from pedaling so much. Seeing that he wasn't going to go far Subaru made a split decision.

Panting madly, Subaru rode up to a house and hopped off the bike. Without thinking of the people who might've lived there, Subaru smashed a window with the bat and jumped through. The pieces of glass cut up his right arm as he used it to brace himself. The blood rushed down his arm and dripped onto the floor. He looked up to see a dining table.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRHHHH!"

The screams of the zombies wasn't far off.

Subaru quickly grabbed a cloth napkin that was on the dining table and ran to the the dining room's exit. Just as he reached it, two zombies were already climbing through the broken window, with the others not far behind.

His adrenaline pumping, Subaru didn't know the layout of the house and was running blindly, trying to find an exit that led to the back.

A glint of the moon light caught his eye when Subaru ran past a hallway. Hoping what he saw was true, Subaru backtracked a little bit and saw a back door with an upper window, through it, he could see the night sky. Just as he took off towards the door, a zombie ran up to him and grabbed at him, but missed.

Subaru ran out the door and closed it behind him to slow down the walkers. As they pounded on the door, Subaru looked ahead to see a brick wall. _Perfect._

By the time the walkers had broken through to door, Subaru was already moving. He jumped at the wall and planted a shoe on its vertical surface, using that to kick up and launch him higher. His hand just barely grasped the top brick.

Subaru hung there like a slab of meat, ready to be cut up and butchered. He threw his other hand to the top and started to pull himself up when one of the walkers grabbed onto his foot.

The walker jerked on his foot and almost pulled him off the wall, but Subaru was able to kick it out and make it to the top. Looking back, he saw all the walkers surrounding him on the one side of the wall, all reaching up to grab him. The sight frightened and saddened him. _All these people are suffering. Watching this happen._ There consciousness must also be in their bodies just like how his was. They have to suffer within their own bodies, not controlling their own movements as they are forced to watch themselves kill and kill. Subaru hoped he was never stuck as one forever, he would rather die for good than become one of them again.

 **3:20am**

Having seen enough, Subaru dropped down to the other side of the wall and began to remove pieces of glass from his skin. Then, he started to wrap the napkin he had grabbed from the house around his arm. The blood seeped through, but he hoped that it would keep his injuries from getting infected.

On the other side of the wall was an alleyway of sorts, with a roughly made concrete road and a brick wall on either side. Weeds and flowers of dull colors grew from cracks in the ground, giving it a look of a dark, deserted, sketchy looking back alley.

Subaru tried his best to run all the way downtown, but he quickly tired out. The previous bike riding, running, climbing, and rush from trying to escape the hands of the walkers had exhausted Subaru. A steady stream of sweat was rushing down his neck and soaking his shirt as he jogged down the alleyway.

The moaning and groaning of walkers plagued the air as he walked down the alley. The occasional scream of terror and/or pain would cause him to flinch. He wondered what it would be like to die, to _really_ die. Move onto another place that didn't have this hell on earth. He started to think the ones that died were the lucky ones, they didn't have to live and see the terrors that were occurring. To turn into one of the walkers was not being dead, to Subaru being dead meant you were dead as a human or as a walker.

At one point, a walker had stumbled into the alleyway at the distant end and caught sight of Subaru. It gave no verbal clues as to seeing Subaru, but approached him anyway.

 _Crap._

Subaru stopped walking. He needed to figure out how to deal with the zombie. He held his bat ready, forcing himself to deal with it like he would in a video game. He wondered what the person inside their infected body would think when he was forced to kill them. After a couple swings and a minute of gagging, Subaru stepped away from what he had done.

The alleyway opened up to a street that was lined with trees. No houses were on either side, making it an eerie place with the screaming and moaning coming from every direction. With no mode of transportation Subaru had to get to the distant downtown in less than an hour if he hoped to save Quarke.

In the distance stood tall buildings with lights flashing, Downtown Los Angeles.

* * *

 **3:50am**

40 minutes. Subaru had 40 minutes before Quarke would show up at his house and kill Rem and Ram. He knew it took about 10 minutes to get from downtown to Rem's house by car. That only gave him 30 minutes to find Quarke. That wasn't much time considering the chaos happening at that moment. The city was in an uproar due to the sounds of mayhem and fear. People were looting and robbing various places, others were running amok, desperately trying to escape danger.

Cars were abandoned, stuck in rows upon rows of empty vehicles. Some people who had tried to take cars were being dragged out of them by walkers. Their crying echoed through the air. Subaru was surrounded, but luckily they paid him no attention since they had others in their sights or ears. He knew the infection was bad, but he didn't know it was this bad. Everything had changed in a matter of hours.

Subaru watched as the chaos took place around him, "Ho-ly shit." It seemed impossible that it all happened so fast.

The rapid decline did make sense though, a densely populated place like LA would definitely spread a contagious infection at an alarming rate. It would seem this city was doomed from the start.

The buildings were still intact and in nice shape, Subaru wondered how long that would last. People ran in different directions, screaming for help as they were chased by walkers. Others, who were driving, plowed through people and walkers, just trying to escape the massacre.

Subaru had to roll out of the way as a car speed towards him, obliterating a walker that had been sneaking up on him.

Blood and gore was everywhere, people were screaming, running, helping, begging for mercy, praying, dying. A car with a man struggling to tear his wife away from his bitten neck swerved out of control in front of Subaru, smashing head on into a building. The man and woman flew out the windshield. The man suffered fatal head injuries while the wife picked herself back up and ate at his corpse. Subaru made sure she never had another bite.

Subaru knew he had to keep moving, he had to find Quark. That was all that mattered. He tried to avoid anyone and everyone he could. He couldn't risk being held up with helping anyone unless he hoped to lose all that he'd worked for.

However, when the opportunity came to save someone who _could_ be saved, Subaru couldn't just ignore them as well.

As Subaru ran he was pushed into the road when a girl jumped out the front door of a shop he'd been running past. The girl fell to the floor, quickly turning onto her back and lifting up a gun she had in her hand. An infected person ran out the door, looking down at the girl and suddenly realizing that a bullet had ripped through his shoulder. Unfazed by this, the zombie began to drop down on top of the girl but was knocked to the side when she smacked him across the face with the pistol. Almost immediately, the zombie regained its composure and ran at the girl as she began to get to her feet. Taken by surprise, the girl dropped her gun. She was then forcefully slammed and pinned against a car with the infected man trying to get a taste of blood.

The only thing that prevented the zombie from eating a mouthful was the girl's hands that held him back from the neck and shoulder. Craning her head away to get her face as far away as possible from the man's jaws she caught sight of Subaru and looked at him in the eyes.

Despite his better judgement, Subaru didn't hesitate to grab the gun the girl had dropped and jab it onto the zombie' head. Turning away with his eyes closed, Subaru pulled the trigger. There was the sound of a body hitting the floor so Subaru looked back at what he had done.

The girl was safe, and at her feet was a dead infected.

"Woo. Ah, hehe. Thanks, man." Seemingly out of breath, the girl thanked Subaru for saving her life. She smiled, turning to Subaru.

Subaru turned to meet the girl's green eyes as she tried to wipe blood off of her red jacket.Her ponytail swayed around as she wiped her hands against the sides of her jacket, a look of disgust on her face when she no longer found wiping infected blood with her hands to be very heigenic.

 _I_ _have to hurry._ Thinking this, Subaru turned to leave and head further into town.

The girl's smile fell and her eyes widened as she saw Subaru walk off, she stepped in front of him and put a hand to his chest, "Wow, wow, wow, where are you going?" She gave a nervous chuckle as pointed in the direction Subaru came from, "Out of town is that way. Why are you going towards the city?"

Subaru nudged her hands off of his chest, "I have to save somebody. They're the reason I'm here in the first place."

Her green eyes flashed with understanding, "Are they family?"

Subaru thought of his parents and stopped for a second to answer, "Yes." He looked down at his hands and realized he was still holding the gun. He didn't want to take her only weapon so he turned and held it out for her to take. But the girl just held up her hand and shook her head.

"You keep it. I got plenty more at my dorm." Realizing what she had said, the girl covered her mouth.

Subaru wasn't sure how to react, but he did chuckle a little at her own reaction. When it was over, he turned and started to take a step when the girl spoke up again.

"Fine, but I'm leaving this place with or without you, so now's the time to choose. Come with me and live or stay here and...well...you know."

Subaru smiled at the girl, who smiled as well, "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to decline that offer." The thought of him opening up a candy wrapper crossed his mind. "They're all too important to me." Slowly, he started backaway before sprinting off into the city again.

The girl cupped her hands so her voice would reach Subaru, "At least tell me your name!"

Amongst the blaring sirens and the sounds of fires and chaos, the girl's voice was lost, her request never heard by Subaru.

 **4:16am**

Subaru was panicking, neither Quark nor his parents were anywhere to be seen. After talking to the girl he got into the habit of looking for his parents as well, instead of totally relying on Quark, if he found him.

Subaru was looking down almost every street, trying to find Quark's police cruiser in the middle of all this chaos. "Where is he? Where is he?" However, almost every car was either empty or had a walker inside, and there were a lot of cars to go through. In one, he found that an infected cop had broken open his own car's back window and pulled out the arrested suspect. The scene was gruesome, one that Subaru avoided at all costs.

It wasn't until a minute later did Subaru's journey come to an end. He ran across a dirty alleyway to reach Grand Ave. To his right, Subaru saw the flashing lights of a police cruiser. He began to run towards it, but soon slowed down to a shuffle when he heard the sounds of several gun shots. He looked on and saw Quark. He would've been happy had it not been for the fact that the man was holding his neck while blood flowed from between his fingers.

Finally, Subaru's journey had ended. With Quark already infected, and with his parents no where to possibly be found, Subaru had no idea what to do. He was too late, and because of that everyone he loved would die. The chasm of hopelessness he had been struggling to keep repressed for the last hour was now overflowing with self hatred.

Zooming past, Quark didn't notice Subaru standing just off the road. From there, Subaru could make out a bloody hand print on the door of the car.

Subaru walked into the middle of the street, looking at the bumper of the cop car that just flew past him. Subaru was too late, Rem and Ram were as good as dead and it was all his fault. He fell to his knees, not knowing what to do or where to go.

Unknowingly to him, these questions would soon be answered with blinding lights and the blaring horn of a car.

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **2:33am**

When Subaru awakened he grimaced, not expecting a car to come hitting him out of nowhere. Taking deep breaths, he slowly sat up in bed and cradled his head.

"Why can't I just get this right?"

It felt like a videogame to Subaru. No matter how many times he died there would be no consequences. Each and every time he learned something new to help him figure out the solution.

The walkers were his first death. He didn't recognize them as killers, resulting in his death.

His second death was by getting bitten by a walker. That's when he learned of the dangerous cannibalistic nature of the things.

His third death was when he learned that Quark was infected and would go home immediately. This led to Rem and Ram's death.

His fourth death showed him that Rem and Ram cannot be reasoned with when he had no evidence to support his claim about the infection. And whenQuark would inevitably come home he would kill infect Rem and Ram.

His fifth death made it clear that he didn't want to kill Quark. It would break the twins' hearts to see him dead. He leaned that killing him wasn't the answer.

Then his most recent death showed him in what general direction Quark was in downtown. That's where he would find Quark and save him. With him safe, Rem and Ram would be safe.

Subaru felt like this was the one. He was going to conquer this loop and bring an end to Rem and Ram's suffering. He was going to save them. This time, he was sure.

* * *

"OVER HERE, YOU DUMN LOOKING PIECES OF-!!!"

The three infected ran at Subaru, who stepped out of their way just before they reached him. They each ran past him, tripping over eachother when they ran into the table in the backyard. Quickly, Subaru closed the sliding door and made his way out the front, closing that door behind him as well.

 _I just have to do everything the same._

Once again, Subaru opened the garage door and rode out on his bike. Sure enough, walkers were giving chase once he was at the point where they chased him last time.

Knowing what to do, Subaru smashed open the window of the same house he entered and carefully jumped through it. This time he didn't suffer any injuries.

Without pausing, Subaru ran to the hallway that ended with the back door. While the walkers had just barely reached the window, Subaru was already out the door. He climbed the wall with more of an understanding of how to climb it.

Subaru was puzzled when not a single walker came out of the house. From one of the bedroom windows, Subaru saw a walker looking around the room. _They're looking for me._ It was obvious, but they didn't see him go out the door so of course they would think he was still in the house.

 _Think...so they think with reasoning?_

* * *

The city was still under chaos. The same people he saw before were dying the same way he witnessed it in his previous life.

After repeating the same path, Subaru found her again. The same girl he had been hoping would still be in the same place, under the same circumstances.

"Hey!" Subaru yelled when the girl suddenly threw herself out the door. She looked over at him, her gun now out.

Subaru threw himself in front of the door just in time to collide with the infected man and knock him out of the way. The girl looked in interest when Subaru readied his bat and swung the bat, connecting it with the side of the zombie's head.

The zombie fell over onto his then instantly started getting back up. Before he could regain his posture, Subaru kicked him in the chest, knocking him onto the side of a car. The girl took this oppurtunity to shoot her gun, putting a bullet in the zombie's head. Now dead, the zombie slumped down to the ground.

Nervously laughing, the girl thanked Subaru. "Hey, thanks. That was something, wasn't it?"

Subaru turned to look at the girl. Nothing was different about her. She still had the same calm tone to her voice. It was af if she had trained for this her whole life or something, and now she was able to finally put her skills to the test with comfort. He remembered her mentioning having _more_ guns in her dorm room, as if she had been prepared for this exact scenario.

Subaru began walking away. Just as he suspected, the girl stopped him with a worried expression on her face, "Wow, wow, wow, where are you going?" She gave a nervous chuckle as pointed in the direction Subaru came from, "Out of town is that way. Why are you going towards the city?"

"There are people that need my help. They're important to me, so I want to save them."

"Same for me, really, except I'm headed across the country." The girl looked at Subaru with understanding, "Are they family?"

"Yes." He took note that the girl told him something she hadn't in his previous life.

The girl opened the car door and reached inside, retrieving a revolver. When she tried to place it into his palm after telling him to take it, Subaru closed his hand, not taking the gun.

The girl was shocked that someone would refuse to be given a weapon during a time like this. She looked at Subaru in the face speaking with attitude, "Hey, what gives? I'm trying to thank you for saving my life."

Subaru turned to the green eyed girl and said, "Keep your gun. I actually have something to ask of you."

The girl placed the gun into her back pocket and crossed her arms while throwing her ponytail back over her shoulder. "I'm listening."

"I need your car. Think you can take me for a ride and help me find the person I'm looking for?"

The girl only stared at Subaru.

Subaru added, "It'll make us even."

The girl held her breathe for a whole ten seconds before giving in. Sighing, she said, "Fine, if it makes us even, but afterwards I'm outta here." She made a gesture of throwing her right thumb over her shoulder.

Subaru held up his hands, "I won't stop you."

The girl smiled again, "You better not." She turned around and walked to the car.

Subaru followed closely behind and went to the passenger side. When he opened the door the girl said to him while pulling out the gun, "Any funny business and you're dead."

Subaru ducked behind the car to avoid being pointed at by the gun. "Mind pointing that thing somewhere else. I'm not gonna do anything."

The girl sat in the driver's seat and turned on the car, giving Subaru an apologetic smile, "Sorry, it's just during times like these you can't be too sure who you can trust."

Subaru made a mental note of that.

Without any warning, the girl slammed down on the gas, sending the car flying through the streets. The loud roaring of the engine and the popping of the exhaust attracted the attention of any nearby walkers, but they soon were distracted by any unlucky person who fell under their gaze.

The girl turned the wheel, sending them drifting onto another street. She took her eyes off the road for a moment to look at Subaru who was gripping the chair so hard his knuckles had turned white. She giggled at the sight, "I just realized, I never got your name."

Subaru was too busy trying not to die of a heart attack when she pointed that out, "W-What?!"

"I never got your name!"

Subaru closed his eyes as she narrowly missed a parked car. "It's Subaru!"

The girl smiled and turned her eyes back to the road, "That's cool, like that one car company."

"Y-Yeah, yeah. What's yours?"

"My name's Zoey. Nice to meet you."

 _If I live through this, then I'll be sure to say the same._


	6. Breaking the Loop

**AN: Thanks, JDUBZ for being an awesome Beta Reader!**

Chapter 6: Breaking the Loop

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **3:44am**

The engine roared as Zoey applied and released the gas at random intervals, sometimes pressing on the brakes to make them drift around corners and speed off.

Zoey was having the time of her life as she zoomed through the streets. "Ahahahaha! I've never been able to do this!"

Subaru's said sarcastically, still holding tight to his seat, "Oh gee, I wonder why?!"

The car swerved around another corner and came to a halt. In front of them was open road, either side of the street was lined with cars and walkers, except for the middle. Subaru could feel Zoey's eyes on him. He looked at her excited face and bluntly said, "No."

She rapidly nodded her head, "Yes."

As she floored it, Subaru yelled out, sinking into his chair, "Nononononononononono!" Ahead of them, Grand Ave. came up and Zoey jerked the wheel. This sent them drifting yet again.

As they swerved, a walker was caught in its path and launched into the air. Feeling the abrupt thump on the car, Zoey turned to look at the slightly damaged car door. She turned to Subaru with a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile, "Oops."

 _This girl is crazy. I mean, I enjoy killing them because they've hurt me. This girl, she's killing for fun._ Subaru said under his breath, "I hope that doesn't include her killing me."

"What was that?"

Subaru was worried she heard him, "Nothing, nothing!" He gripped the seat again as Zoey sent the car zooming down Grand Ave. "Please don't kill me."

Her eyes reflected the lights of the street lamps lights as they went over her, filling her with happiness and a sense of purpose. Before this world, she was a stay-at-home kind of person. Watching zombie flicks and other horror movies had surprisingly prepared her for a situation like this. She was ready to show those walkers what she was made of.

 **3:54am**

As they past a street, Subaru saw the flashing lights of a cop car, "Woah, stop!"

Zoey applied the brakes, sending them skidding across the road and coming to a halt. She reversed the car back to where Subaru told her to stop.

There, next to a big, silver, artsy looking building was a cop car, it's lights flashing. _That's gotta be him._ He's not moving so hopefully he hasn't been bitten yet.

"Head over there," Zoey's foot hovered over the gas, "...slowly, please!"

Zoey pouted and drove at a reasonable speed.

This area of LA looked worse when it came to looting. Not many walkers were around, but the amount of stores with broken windows was almost too many to count.

One man who was exiting a shop he just robbed, saw their car and went at them with a bat, ready to hit it if he could as it drove by. The man stopped in his tracks when Zoey pulled out the revolver and pointed it in his general direction. She didn't shoot, only made sure he kept his distance.

As they approached the building the cruiser was next to, Subaru recognized it as the Walt Disney Concert Hall. He had gone there once with his dad when he was young. He was disappointed with it because it had nothing to do with Mickey Mouse like he thought it would.

* * *

Quarke was sitting in the cruiser, trying to contact the police department to update them on his side of town. However, the com wasn't working, all he would get in reply was static. As he was trying to figure out how to fix the com, assuming something was wrong on his side, a walker emerged from within the concert hall.

Seeing Quarke, the walker began banging on the glass, their bloody hands smearing the clear surface. Quarke looked up to inspect the noise and found the man hitting the glass. He saw multiple bite wounds, scratches, and bruises across his shirtless body and hurriedly walked up to the glass.

Quarke adjusted his uniform as he said in an authoritative voice, "Do not panic! I need you to stay calm! I'm going to find a way in!" Just as he was about to run to the entrance of the building a crack in the glass appeared.

Quarke turned back to the man, who was looking back with bloodshot, angry eyes. Through the glass, Quarke could hear the man's roar as he began to rapidly hit the glass with his head and fists.

Quarke backed up towards the cruiser as the man violently flailed, hitting the window with all his strength.

"Sir, I need you to stop that right now!"

More cracks spread in the glass. Quarke could hear the spreading of the cracks and the roars of the walker, he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"I'm politely asking you to stop!"

When the wallet didn't stop Quarke place a hand to his gun holster and unlocked it. The walker took a step back and threw himself into the window, breaking it. The walker fell to the floor as well, tiny bits of glass were embedded in it's body, arms, and face. The walker picked itself up as Quarke pulled out his gun and pointed it at him.

"I'm warning you!"

The walker regarded Quarke with a tilt of its head as it groaned.

"Do not take another step forward!"

As if insulted by his command, the walker's face contorted with anger. It let out a loud roar into the night sky, this startled Quarke just a bit. The walker look back down at Quarke. It started to run at Quark, but before it could take a second step, the revving sounds of an engine cut through the air as headlights illuminated the walker.

Quarke watched as a car slammed into the walker and sent him flying, broken. The car had come to a stop in front of him and he saw a girl waving to him with a smile in the driver's seat.

Subaru came out from the passenger side and looked at Quarke with a relieved expression and a smile that mirrored the girl's, "Oh thank god we made it on time."

Quarke looked at Subaru, "Subaru? What are you doing here?" He looked back at the walker they had just hit. They had just hit another person right in front of a cop.

His expression went serious, "You just killed a man. I'm taking both of you in." He switched out for his taser and pointed it at Zoey to prevent her from driving away.

Subaru rushed to the other side of the car and stepped in front of Zoey, "Mr. Tenshi, you don't fully understand what's happening right now. We just saved your life, that thing we hit wasn't human. Hell, it's not even dead I don't think!" Subaru looked over at the walker they hit, it was twitching. "Mr. Tenshi, there is something spreading through the city and if we don't leave right now we'll get caught in it."

Quarke looked at the chaos around him. The results of a riot, he was sure...or was he? "What is it that's spreading? How are you sure?"

 _Now I see where Ram gets her stubbornness._

Walkers started to emerge from various buildings at the sound of the previous walker's roar. _It attracted them._ Subaru had to hurry.

"Mr. Tenshi, I can't prove it now, but if you don't come with us _they_ will kill you." Subaru pointed towards the small crowd of walkers shambling their way over to them. Most of them were covered in blood.

Quake looked at the crowd and switched the direction of his gun to point at the walkers. "What the hell do they want?" Subaru could tell by his voice that he was scared.

Subaru grabbed the collar of Quarke's uniform and tugged, "The only thing they want to do is eat, eat you. They're not people like us anymore, they're monsters."

"Raaaaghhhhhhhhaaahhhh!"

The collective groaning of the walkers shook Quarke down to his core because he had never handled a situation like this. These people were angry, and they were ALL looking at him.

Zoey observed the crowd and called out worryingly, "Subaru, we have to go now!" She was ready to take off, but didn't want to leave Subaru.

At the sound of her voice, one of the blind walkers ran at them. His hands extended and grabbed at the arm. A long stream of bloody saliva trailed behind him as he ran straight at Quarke.

Quarke kicked the walker in the chest. The walker only stumbled a bit before charging again. This time, Quarke shot the taser at the walker. It fell to the floor, spasming, throwing its limbs around in almost every direction as it rolled back and forth onto its stomach. A terrible wailing escaped its mouth as it threw itself around horrifically.

Quarke backed up at the displeasurable sight, a look of shock crossed his face and was replaced with fear as the rest of the crowd responded to the downed walker with yet another collective moan.

"RRRRAAAHHHHGRGHHAAA!"

All at once, the mob of walkers ran at Quarke, intending to kill.

Subaru threw open the door of the backseat and jumped in, he then grabbed Quarke's collar and pulled him in, he yelled at Zoey, "Floor it!"

Subaru pulled with all his strength to get the scared Quarke into the car. The door shut just as the walkers slammed into it. The full force of multiple walkers hitting the car, shoving it to an angle.

Zoey yelped as she slammed her foot on the gas. The car skidded in its place for a second before taking off. The crowd of walkers sprinted to catch the car, but were too slow. Despite being too slow to catch up to them, the walkers still ran in the general direction they were going, unrelenting.

Just when they had thought all was calm, a sudden bump came from the roof of the car. Zoey almost swerved off the road when a walker from the roof of the car appeared in the windshield. It's bloodshot eyes took in all three uninfected people, as it roared through the glass.

The walker threw its arms and head back repeatedly as it pounded onto the glass. Zoey screamed as it broke through the glass and started to reach at her.

Shock took over Subaru as the walker tumbled into the passenger seat of the car. As it reached for Zoey she yelled, "Hang on!" She slammed on the brakes. Subaru and Quarke barely had enough time to brace themselves against the back of the seats.

Subaru expected the walker to fly out the windshield Ike in the movies, but instead, the walker hit the dashboard with a sickening crack as some of its ribs broke. The time it took for the walker to recompose itself was enough for Zoey to pull out her Cobra and put the barrel against its forehead. It looked at Zoey as she pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered its skull and turned its brain to mush.

Quarke and Subaru stared as she nonchalantly reached across the dead walker and opened the door. Using her foot, Zoey shoved the walker out the door and onto the asphalt.

She turned her head to look at the two men behind her, "So, where you two headed?"

Just as she said that a man wearing all black appeared out of nowhere and held a gun up to Zoey from outside the passenger door. The lower half of his face was covered by a skull mask.

"Get out of the car!" His voice sounded young and hesitant. It seemed he didn't want to do this, but felt he had no choice.

Zoey held her hands up as he shined a flashlight on her face.

"Set out of the car and leave the gun!"

Zoey did as she was told, giving the man a cold look.

The man turned to Quarke and Subaru, "And you two, step out!"

Quarke was the first to step out, trying to size up the obviously scared man. Knowing that this man was doing what he had to do to escape the walkers, Quarke said, "You don't have to do this, you don't want to."

The man's eyes scrunched together as he said nervously, "Y-You don't know what I want, old man!" He shook the gun at him.

Quarke was slowly scooting his way closer to the man until he was able to lunge across and smack the gun out of his hand. He grabbed the man's shirt and used his left leg sweep him off his feet. Quarke sent the man into the air and brought him down with his hands that were at the man's chest. The wind was knocked out of the man as he fell flat on his back, hard.

A faint whimper came from the man as he laid motionless on the ground, his eye staring at the night sky. Quarke's fist finished him off and rendered him unconscious.

Having never seen Quarke in action, Subaru proudly commented, "Badass, Mr. Tenshi, badass."

Zoey bowed at Quarke and did a three fingered golf clap. "Thank you, sir. Man, I keep getting my ass saved today."

Quarke lifted the man into his arms and threw him into the back of the car. Zoey's widened her eyes as she looked at Quarke, "Woah, woah, woah. What are you doing? We're not bringing him!" He just looked up at Zoey as he slammed the door shut.

"He may have tried to do us wrong, but if we leave him here I don't know what will happen to him. Those people we saw earlier were not safe. Leaving him would mean his death."

"So you didn't believe us then, but now you believe us?"

Quarke looked away from Zoey to stare at an overturned car with a mangled body next to it. The head was gone, but it's abdomen was torn open, organs were spilled everywhere. "I think I've seen just about enough to know how serious of a situation we're in."

Zoey stomped her foot, "That may be so, but I'm still not taking that guy! Leave him in a building or something, I don't know! At least that way he'll have a chance when we leave him."

Quarke glared at Zoey, "I am an honorable man and I will not let him die at the hands of those people! What he did was to ensure his own safety! He was looking to survive and we will help him survive!"

"He was going to leave us for dead! He didn't care what would happen to you so why do you care?!"

In the distance the walkers were still running towards them. They had followed the street and must have heard their yelling and were moving to their location. The screams and moaning of the walkers filled the air as they charged down the street and towards the car. More walkers had joined in chase, having heard the wailing of the other walkers, like a rallying call.

Subaru slammed on the roof of the car to stop the two from arguing any longer, "I know you guys want to continue this, but we've got to move now. I say we keep him until we decide what to do with him," he looked at Zoey, "...fair?"

Zoey's eyes glanced across both Quarke and Subaru, who were staring at her. She thought for a moment, looking in the distance, towards the incoming wave of infected. They jumped onto cars, setting off alarms, bringing more infected towards them. If they left now they could leave them in the dust and the walkers would have no way of finding them.

She opened the door to the driver's side, saying before she sat in the seat, "Get in."

Subaru sat in the passenger's seat while Quarke sat in the back to keep an eye on the man. Once again, the car took off, leaving tire skid marks in it's wake.

* * *

Quarke unloaded the 9mm pistol the man had pulled on them, "Empty. Didn't have anything."

Zoey looked at him from the rearview mirror resentfully, "Maybe he stole that from somebody too."

Quarke put the clip back into the gun, "Wouldn't you if you had to make that decision?"

"What happened to your 'honorable man' act?"

"Who's to say he didn't take it from someone who wasn't as fortunate as him?"

Zoey looked back at the road, starting to regret ever helping Subaru find Quarke. "How close are we?"

Subaru looked at the street signs, "Not far, we'll have to dump him soon." He looked at Zoey, wondering if she went to his school. "So I've never seen you around here."

Zoey put on a bitter smile, "Not surprised. I went to college as a film major, but I usually just stayed home watching movies, but then this all went down tonight so I guess all that's in the past."

"I'm sure all this will blow over, the government will take care of it." Subaru didn't sound so hopeful when he said this. The infection had destroyed a city in a matter of hours, who was to say it wouldn't spread to the whole country by next week. Then the world in only a month. It was a scary thought, but he had to hope that the situation would be under control.

"You better hope you're right."

All three had come to an agreement that they would leave the man on the side of the road at a good distance from Quarke's house. If he wasn't awake by then, then they would wake him up so he was able to defend himself. Quarke felt he needed to let the man have a weapon at least and removed his Glock 19 from it's holster. Removing 5 rounds, he put them into the man's gun to ensure he had enough to protect himself. He wasn't sure if the man would use them as a weapon against other people, but it was a risk he was taking in order to help him. He just hoped this act of kindness would change the man.

Quarke called out to Zoey when they stopped at the next corner, "Here's good."

Exiting the car, Quarke went to the other side to remove the man, who was still unconscious. He dragged the man to rest against a nearby tree. Slapping him awake, Quarke told the man that what he did was an act of mercy. If he didn't take him, the man would be dead. He then showed the man that he had put ammo into the clip.

"I hope you use it wisely." Quarke said in a voice that made it clear to the man to use it only in self defense, "Do you understand?"

The man nodded vigorously.

Quarke kept the clip in his hand as he set the gun on the man's lap. The man watched as he walked back to the car and got in. Just as they drove away, Quarke threw the clip with 5 precious rounds in it, out the window.

* * *

Zoey pulled the car up to Quarke's house, "This is it?"

Subaru answered for him, "Yeah, thanks for the ride."

She put a hand up and humbly said, "Hey, it was no big deal, I was glad to return the favor since you saved my ass." Zoey stepped out of the car but left the engine running, "Hey, old man." Quarke looked at her, "You saved my ass too, I won't forget that."

Quarke smiled and nodded at her.

Zoey puffed up her cheeks and blew air out, drumming the roof of the car with her fingers, "Well, so I've gotta get going."

Subaru looked at her, surprised that she was leaving them so soon, "What? Where are you going?"

"I'm headed out of state to make sure my family's OK."

 _Oh my god._

Finding Quarke, befriending Zoey, and having the run in with the guy that tried to rob them had made him completely forget that his parents were missing. He felt like his whole mission was a bust. _Do I have to start over?_

Subaru's eyes glanced across the gun holstered at Quarke's hip. He grimaced, already feeling the bullet penetrating his skull. _I don't want to die…...but I guess I have to._ The only way to find out where his parents were was to die over and over again until he found them again.

"You OK, Subaru?"

Quarke's voice broke him out of his trance. He said uncertainly, "Oh, me? Yeah, I'm OK."

Quarke saw the look on Subaru's face, and guessed what he was thinking, "Don't worry, Subaru they're fine. They said they would be, and I trust they will be."

Subaru looked at him questionably, "What do you mean?"

"They went into hiding to escape the riots. Them and other people were escorted out of the city by some CEDA people." He looked worryingly at Subaru, "Did they not tell you?"

"What are you talking about?" Subaru marched up to Quarke, "What were they supposed to tell me?"

Quarke put space between them, "Listen, I escorted them to the evacuation point, but I wasn't allowed to ask questions. They said it was only a minor threat and that it would be handled in due time. Your parents told me that they were going to call you, but I guess they didn't."

"No shit they didn't! Where are they?"

"Like I said, I don't know. I'm sorry, Subaru, but just know that they'll be safe with CEDA. Maybe something came up and they couldn't call you."

CEDA, the Civil Emergency and Defense Agency, they were supposed to protect Americans during times of crisis. If they said it was only a minor threat then what were they doing here? Obviously they knew something, something they're trying to keep secret. Why did mom and dad go with them? They were evacuated, why?

Zoey stood uncomfortably next to her car, not sure on what to do. "Ummmm," she rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile. "I'm sure they'll be OK, Subaru. Don't worry about them, it just means that they see the infection as a real threat. So they'll probably start evacuating more people...hopefully." It was a cheerful thought, one that didn't help.

Subaru pulled out his phone and called his dad, no answer. Same went for his mother.

It hurt.

* * *

 **5:07am**

Zoey was gone, she had left for Louisiana. A long trip, one that she said she was prepared for, mentally wise.

Quarke was rallying Rem and Ram while Subaru stared at his phone, waiting for a text from either his mother or father. None ever came. _Why didn't they tell me?_

"Subaru-kun, father says we must hide in the basement. Rem doesn't understand why."

Subaru turned to the sound of Rem's voice, he tried to sound hopeful, but failed. "Bad things are happening, Rem, but don't worry help will come soon."

Subaru followed Quarke to the basement, the entrance of which was in the kitchen, surprisingly. Rem and Ram followed closely behind, still unsure about what was happening. Rem had her hands up to her face, scared. Ram was behind her, dragging a blanket with an annoyed, tired look on her face.

Rem caught up to Subaru, "Subaru-kun, father says that people are changing. What is happening to them?"

"I don't know." It wasn't a lie, even after encountering them for so long even he didn't know what exactly was happening. All he knew was that it just happened and he couldn't stop it.

Rem ended up sleeping next to Subaru, from her own insistence, while Ram slept next her dad.

"Goodnight, Subaru-kun."

"Goidnight, Rem."

It was that night that Subaru finally fell asleep, hoping to see the sun when he woke up.

* * *

The dark interior of the APC had four occupants. A loving couple, the driver, and a man handling the roof mounted machine gun. The heavy tires of the car crushed the uneven ground below it as it drove across an open field. It's green color blended in amongst the grass it ran it over. Trees and bushes bordered the wide open area as the car powerfully drove through it.

A walkie talkie from the man at the wheel spit static as it was activated from the other line. Intangible muttering came from the device and suddenly cut off soon after. As if knowing what it said, the man pulled the device from his army fatigues and pressed a button, "This is, Foxtrot. Please stand by, ETA 3 hours, over." More static and muttering. "Package is ready for shipping. Please have the LZ clear upon ETA, over." For the last time, the device spit static. "Affirmative, all tangos spotted have been neutralized, over."

In the back, the couple were holding each other. The male, Kenichi, lifted up his phone. It's bright screen displayed Subaru's face and two options, Answer or Ignore. He put the phone down, waiting for it to go away.

The woman, Naoko, felt a vibration in her pocket and brought out her phone as well. Again, Subaru's face popped up with the two options. "Honey, he's calling again."

Kenichi looked sadly at the phone, "Just ignore it, Sweetie. He'll be OK."

Naoko held on tighter to her husband, "But what if he isn't. It'll be all our fault."

He kissed the top of her head, "I promise you, we'll see him again."

"He'll hate us." Naoko started to cry into Kenichi's chest.

Kenichi looked out the window to the sky that was starting to brighten up from the early morning sun, "Yes, I think he will…..but it's for what's best."


	7. One More to Save

**AN: Matthew Yan- I have no plan of being a light novel author. I don't think I have that kind of imagination to come up with my own world, a full cast of characters that vary in personalities, a world that's unique, and, most importantly, a story that's original in it's own way.**

 **Thanks to JDUBZ for being an awesome Beta Reader, as usual!**

Chapter 7: One More to Save

* * *

 **April 27, 2015**

 **9:12am**

The Tenshi family home remained untouched as did every other house in the block. Why the walkers hadn't come yet was unknown. But that false sense of security would soon be gone.

Within the Tenshi house, voices could be heard through the basement door.

"Father, be careful."

"I will, just stay here with Subaru, Rem."

"While I have no problem staying with Rem I'd rather come up and see the outside for myself."

"Leaving me out, that's expected of Barusu."

From the sound of it, Subaru was being sarcastic, "Oh, I'm sorry Ram did I hurt your feelings?"

"Barusu is too impuissant when it comes to women."

"Hey, I don't know what that word means, but it better be good!"

"Quiet you two, we don't want to make too much noise."

"Subaru-kun, can Rem hold your arm? I'm scared."

"Wha-? Oh yeah, sure I guess."

"Impuissant, Barusu."

"I didn't ask for the comment, Ram."

"And Barusu doesn't need to, I provide them 24/7."

"Okay, enough from the both of you. I'm opening the door."

The sound of multiple locks being slid out of place came from within the door. The doorknob turned and then the door started to open slowly. A tiny creaking sound came from the hinges, making Quarke cringe a little. The kitchen was spotless. Not a single thing out of place that would give away the fact that something was in here over night. Still, Quarke held his gun in front of him, ready to shoot.

Following closely behind was Subaru who had Rem latched into his arm. Subaru was following timidly, scared about what could be around any corner. This was a new day, somewhere he hasn't been yet. He had no clue what was going to happen, that's what was unnerving him. Behind them was Ram, looking calm and bored, not exactly knowing what was going on but still choosing to not care.

She gave a disapproving look at the sight of Rem wrapping her arms around Subaru's. Subaru was a good friend and all, but seeing her cute sister fall in love with the arrogant Subaru didn't sit right with her. She wanted Rem to find someone that more suited her, someone more charming or respectful. Subaru was just too...not like that. Plus, Ram herself would notice when Rem would flirt, but in Subaru's idiocy, he didn't notice it, so it seemed Rem would never be able to get to him.

Ram said under her breath, "Barusu, you idiot."

Subaru turned his head around, "What was that."

Ram looked up at him, "I said 'Barusu, you idiot'."

"Why would you say that?"

"Just one of the many things that have come out of my amazing mind." Ram pointed to her head while keeping her mocking demeanor.

Subaru looked at her for a few second before looking back at Quarke, humming through his lips as he did so, "Hmmmmmmmmm…"

Ram closed her eyes and slowly shook her head at Subaru.

The front door was intact. Nothing had broken it down or anything, that should have been clear anyway because if the walkers hit it then they would have heard from the basement. Quarke proceeded to check all the windows as Subaru stayed with the twins in the living room.

"So what is happening, Barusu? Did you plague our father as well with your idiocy?"

Subaru crossed his arms, "Calling your father an idiot now are we, Ram?"

"No, Barusu, I'm calling _you_ an idiot."

Subaru put a hand to his heart and feigned being hurt, "Ow, that hurts me every time you say such things, Ram."

Ram used her hands to gesture to all of Subaru, "See that? That right there is why I think you're an idiot."

Rem giggled from the side. She was enjoying the banter between two of her favorite people in the world. She had split from Subaru and was cupping her hands over her face to suppress her laughter.

"Barusu, you still haven't answered my question."

"Well I'll gladly answer it when your dad comes back because…" Subaru trailed off while spinning a hand in front of him, looking Ram.

Ram rolled her eyes and finished Subaru's sentence, "Because I won't believe you."

Subaru smile and clapped his hands, while striking a pose, "That's the ticket."

* * *

Quarke returned to the living room after checking that every room was clear and that every window wasn't broken. Nothing had gotten in overnight, or tried to get in for that matter. As a matter of fact, looking outside, he noticed that the entire street looked safe. Nothing was wrong. The only evidence that proved last night happened were the skid marks Zoey had left in the road when she took off.

As soon as Quarke returned, Ram demanded to know why he was being paranoid, "Father, what's happening?"

Quarke opened the front door and looked outside, "There's a sickness and it's making people...angry." The look of the walker through the window popped into his mind. "They don't seem to have any reasoning, I'm afraid."

Ram walked up to her dad and looked outside as well, wondering what he was looking for, "What does that mean, father?"

"Subaru knows more about them, he's the one who saved me last night." Quarke turned to Subaru, as did Rem and Ram.

Subaru started to get nervous, he put a hand to his chest as he stuttered, "M-Me? Well, I did save him, yes. I couldn't have done it without Zoey though. She was a great help with the car and whatnot."

Ram stared at him with half lidded eyes, "Barusu."

Subaru sighed in defeat, "Fine. Well, like your dad said, there's a sort of sickness spreading, spreading fast. It causes umm," the walkers were yelling, "rage," their teeth were bloody, "cannibalism," a woman was running from a group of them, "and I think it dulls the senses along with feelings. If not dull then eliminate."

Ram's expression never changed as she looked at Subaru. After a few seconds she turned to her father, "Father, what's happening?"

Subaru face palmed, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Quarke shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you've gotta admit, Subaru, it is pretty far fetched." He put a hand on Ram's shoulder, "But it is true. I saw it with my own eyes. Downtown is in ruins, we can't go there anymore."

"But there is nothing wrong." Ram walked outside and scanned the area. Everything was fine, an old man was even watering his garden. He waved to Ram when he caught sight of her.

The sun beamed down on the street, casting a welcoming glow upon the houses. The blue sky was dotted with clouds, birds flew across, chirping as they did so. Everything was bliss, everything was….normal.

Before Ram could say anything, Quarke pulled her into the house. Closing the door in front of her, Quarke slid the security lock into place. When he did so, he turned to Ram with a finger pointed at her, "From now on, no one goes out of this house unless it's an emergency."

Rem was huddled against Subaru again, a look of worry directed towards her dad, "Father, you're scaring Nee-sama and I."

Ram put a finger up, saying in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm more confused than scared. I still barely know anything, no thanks to Barusu."

Subaru rolled his eyes as he looked outside one of the windows to see the perfectly normal scene outside. _Have they just not gotten here yet? Did CEDA get rid of the threat?_ That thought made him happy. He would be able to see his parents again when they came back. He would have so many questions to ask them.

All it came down to was his power. His ability to reset time, but it seemed this power wasn't under his control but seemed to work as it wanted to. He wasn't able to go back in time at any point and he only does so when he died. Also, his respawn point was always in his bed. _Would it move if I died again or would I have to relive that hell?_ He only had two regrets about last night; forgetting about his parents and leaving the couple, Harold and his wife.

There just wasn't enough time to save them, it was either them or the Tenshi family. That was the first time he ever had to make such a devastating decision because either way, people died.

Looking at Rem's face pressed against his arm, Subaru realized he made the right decision and shouldn't dwell on it.

Thinking about Ram's previous comment, Subaru said urgently, "The news! They've gotta have something!"

Quarke snapped his fingers, "Subaru's right." He picked up a remote that was on the couch and turned on a television that was in front of it.

A documentary was playing about something, but Quarke didn't pay it any attention as he flipped to whatever news channel came to mind.

The first thing that came up was a man and a woman having a conversation while aerial footage of a city playing in a small box in the corner. A large city appeared to be glowing and smoking. It became clear that the city was on fire. The unmistakable Golden Gate Bridge loomed in the far side of the city.

The man started talking after a logo transition revealed a larger version of the video. _"If you're just tuning into this morning's breaking news it appears that a large part San Francisco is up in flames. What started as a small apartment building has fire quickly spread when it wasn't dealt with immediately."_

The woman started talking _, "Sources say that a mob of people abducted the firefighters when they arrived. Not much else is known of the whereabouts of the firefighters. However, the mob of people have begun to create mass hysteria, chasing others, beating them, and in most cases, result to homicide."_

The video showed people in the streets being chased and taken down by what looked like walkers. The walkers were even running into fire, just to catch someone. People ran away from the walkers that were ablaze, hoping not to get burnt or worse, killed.

The video shrunk as the man suddenly began talking after a brief pause from the both of them. _"What? Ah, yes. We have our eyewitness on the scene now being escorted by members of CEDA. Apparently they are trying to suppress the threat that is causing this panic. Rochelle, you're on the air."_

The shot of the man was replaced by one of a woman with dark skin who had a short curly hair that was pulled back and tied together. She was smiling as she looked into the camera, _"Thanks you, Brandon. Now I'm here with Lt. Kleiner of CEDA, who was part of a squad sent here to purge the threat. What do you mean by purging the threat?"_ She held the microphone out to the soldier that was standing next to her. The camera panned to him as he started speaking. His voice was monotone as he spoke.

 _"We have official orders to keep the city safe by any means necessary. Our main goal is to stop the spread of the virus."_ He adjusted the M16 assault rifle that was in his arms.

Rochelle asked, _"So it's a virus that's spreading?"_

 _"Yes, it's um, it's the result of a-."_ the soldier caught sight of a man running at them from the side. He quickly held up the rifle and pointed it at the man, yelling in a loud menacing tone, _"DO NOT GET ANY CLOSER!"_

The camera quickly panned in the direction the soldier was looking at. A walker was sprinting toward them. It's face was covered in blood, a shirt it once wore was torn to shreds, one of it's hands was missing, flinging blood everywhere as it swung its arm, and it's eyes were bloodshot, trained on Rochelle who was closest.

 _"RRRRRAAAAAGHHHHHAAAA!"_

When the walker was within 10 feet of them the soldier was forced to shoot him. The first bullet struck the walker in the shoulder, but it kept running after having its upper body be jerked to the side. The second bullet hit the walker square in the chest, sending the walker to the floor with blood leaking out of the hole in its chest. No sooner did it fall to the floor did the walker get back up on its feet and resume running. This time, the soldier took aim down the sight and landed a shot on the walker's head. This made the walker immediately stop running and wobble towards them until it fell to its knees and then belly in front of Rochelle. The entire time, Rochelle was screaming bloody murder as the soldier shot the walker.

The camera panned back to the Lieutenant who was still aiming his gun at the dead walker. His breathing was uneven as he looked at the dead body, "We-We've been ordered to shoot any infected on sight."

From behind the soldier came another walker who had heard the gunshots. The cameraman shoved the Lieutenant and pointed at the incoming walker. The Lieutenant shot at the walker, missing the first few shots aimed at his head. When he succeeded in killing it, a loud groaning sound was heard. The camera jerked to the side to see a group of walkers up next to the camera. They tackled the camera man, sending the camera to the floor, showing only the feet of the Lieutenant and Rochelle as they ran from the scene. The screams of the camera man were heard as the sound of tearing of flesh and bones reached the camera, broadcasting it all over the United States.

Rochelle's scream could be heard, _"Oh my god! What do we do?!"_

 _"Just follow me!"_

The broadcast ended and was replaced by a 'Please Standby' screen.

Quarke turned off the television, everyone had seen enough.

The infection was spreading, and it was spreading fast. Like LA, San Francisco was also nearly taken over by walkers in only a few hours. How long do we have until they come here.

Subaru was surprised they hadn't come to Rem's yet, it worried him and also relieved him. His relief was obvious, but he was worried that it was going to be the calm before the storm. Something bad was going to happen, he could tell. The question was when.

Hopefully, CEDA had already taken care of it in their side.

* * *

 **9:32am**

"ACHOO!"

"Bless you." A woman stood at the kitchen counter making tea as she blessed her husband. She said in a worried voice, "Honey, I don't think your cold is getting any better."

Her husband was wrapped in a blanket at the kitchen table, looking like an Eskimo. He had a sickly complexion and a tired face. "It is…..just a little."

She grinned, "Sure, Honey. You'll probably be bedridden for another few days." She placed down a warm mug of tea in front of her husband.

He gladly took in his blanket covered hands and shakily took a sip with a refreshing, "Ahhhhhhh...I feel much better already." He tried to make his voice sound normal but just ended up coughing at the end. His wife giggled at his attempt and went behind him to put her hands on his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Honey. Rest up for today and we'll see how you feel tomorrow, OK?"

The husband took another sip of his tea and slowly nodded. "OK."

"That's my champ." The wife kissed the top of her husband's blanket hood before walking to the bathroom to take a shower.

As the man sat alone at the kitchen table he began to sip more of his tea until he was finished with it.

 _Thump._

"Hmm?" The man had heard the thump at the front door and waited for his wife to get it since he was sick. However, she never came. He turned in the direction she had left, he heard the faint noise of their shower door opening. He concluded that she was done taking a shower.

Getting up from his chair, the man slowly made his way to the front door, "Guess it's up to the champ."

 _Thump._

"Yes, Yes, I'm coming….ah..ah...ACHOO!"

A thin line of mucus was hanging down his nose after he sneezed. The man's face cringed, "Ewwww." Grabbing a tissue from a tissue box next to the front door, the man began to wipe it up as he opened the front door to greet whoever was visiting.

The door opened to reveal a man with a torn shirt. The sick man hadn't seen him yet since he was looking down to put the used tissue in a trash can. When he discarded the wad, he looked up, "Sorry about that."

The visitors head jerked at the man's voice. Blood dripped from it's mouth as it opened it to let out a throaty groan. It's blind eyes flew in every direction until they settled on the man when he spoke.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, the man was tackled to the ground as the walker took a bite from his torso. The man wasn't able to scream as the walker had accidentally put a hand over his face. The only thing that came out was a muffled, "MMMMMMMMMM!"

The man tried to push away the walker, but ended up having a few of his finger bitten off. This created more pain as the man desperately tried to escape in his weakened state. Before he knew it, the walker was being shoved by his wife.

His wife was pushing on the walker's hip, trying to push them off, she succeeded. With the walker off of her husband, the woman grabbed his arm and started to pull him away. He started to get to his feet as she dragged him. She was breathing heavily and moaning with every tug as she pulled in her husband.

However, the walker had recovered and tackled the man once again. Crouching down, the walker smelled something only it could smell. The walker opened its mouth and let out a raspy noise.

"Get off of him!"

The walker jerked his head in the direction of the woman, hearing his next meal.

The woman ran, screaming as she did so, away from the walker when it shot up and started sprinting at her.

The husband got to his knees, listening as his dear wife's screams were silenced when the walker caught and bit into her.

The man weakly called out for his wife, "Alex…."

The man got to his feet, cupping a hand below the bite wound in his chest. A purple substance was moving at an alarming rate as it traveled throughout his whole body. "Alex…."

An excruciating pain overcame him as the purple substance reached his neck and traveled up to his face. Screaming, he wobbled and ended up planting his hands on a single-drawer table that was below a mirror.

His hands gripped the ends of the small table as the pain in his body only increased. In turn, the volume of his screams increased as well. He put one of his hands to his head when he saw the purple substance travel up his face. Sweat fell down his face as he tried to fight whatever was traveling under his skin. Of course, his attempts to fight it mentally did nothing. His control over his own body was diminishing as he started to flail his body around.

Falling to the floor, the man could feel the substance deep into his eye sockets. His eyes bulged as he felt it wrap around his brain. All at once he lost consciousness, but his body still flailed for a second before going still.

That was when the man awoke, except with bloodshot eyes and an angry look on his face. Heavily breathing, the man got to his feet and stood up to his full extent. The walker looked in the mirror, pale skin, sunken cheeks, purple veins.

The man within the walker could only scream internally. He had no control over his own body.

The sound of a lawnmower attracted the walker, leading him out the front door. Shambling into the middle of the street, the walker looked to his right. More walkers were aimlessly walking towards him. Looking to his left, the walker saw a certain elderly man watering his garden. He let out a groan as he went to feed.

* * *

"Emilia!"

The sudden outburst from Subaru made Rem, who was currently still clamped onto his arm, jump.

Ram gave Subaru a disappointed look for scaring her precious sister, "What are you on about, Barusu?"

Subaru gave Ram an exasperated look, "Emilia is alone at her house! We have to make sure she's safe!"

"Didn't you say she went with her dad on a business trip?"

Subaru waved a hand in from of him, "Is that what you heard? Nonono, her _dad's_ on a business trip! She's home alone, I have to make sure she's OK."

A few days prior, Subaru had nonchalantly mentioned to Rem and Ram at school that Emilia's dad was going on a trip. It was just something that he brought up when there was nothing to talk about. It must have gotten mixed up somehow during the conversation.

That's was what Subaru was thinking until Ram said, "Well, to be honest I wasn't even listening to Barusu when he was talking then."

Subaru was irritated, "Then why say anything at all?!"

Ram cracked a smile for once upon seeing Subaru angry, "Remember? 24/7."

Seeing her sister's smile, Rem happily bounced on her feet as she said, "Nee-sama is the greatest!"

With his mouth agape, Subaru made a sound that sounded along the lines of, "I don't believe this."

 _They're acting so normal! What is wrong with them?_

His confusion was from Rem and Ram's everyday normal behavior. After seeing the news he felt that they should be scared or worried or SOMETHING! However, they resumed their usual selves, and it worried Subaru. It meant that they still didn't really believe it. Perhaps when they see it for real they would see that it wasn't a joke. That wasn't something he was looking forward to.

Subaru closed his mouth. He saved Rem, but now he had to save Emilia. She was the one he wanted to be with, wanted to live with. Without her, there would be nothing worth living for. This was exactly what he thought of Rem. If either died he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Subaru grabbed his dad's metal bat that he placed next to the couch, "I'm going to get her." _Bring her here, keep her safe._

Quarke nodded while he spoke, "You're going to bring her here? When you do make sure to not bring anything else here." He looked outside suspiciously, "It may look normal, but I'm still worried that it isn't over."

Rem let go of Subaru's arm, saying, "Can Rem come?"

Subaru looked at Rem with a blank stare, "Uhhhhhhhh…" he looked at Quarke, who shook his head. "Um, stay here with your dad and sister. I'll just be right back. OK, Rem?"

Rem's eyes and face fell, but she still kept her cheerful voice, "OK, Subaru-kun."

Rem didn't like the idea of Subaru being alone with Emilia. She knew he liked her, but that wasn't going to stop Rem from trying to win him over. She felt Emilia would someday return her love for Subaru and then he would leave her. Maybe, Rem wasn't even sure if Emilia even liked Subaru in that way. It was a hope she guiltily hung onto.

Subaru tried to cheer her up by patting her head. _I don't know why, but she likes it._

As if confirming his thoughts, Rem blushed and smiled when Subaru's hand rubbed her head.

With nothing else to talk about, Subaru said, "Well, I'm off. I'll see you guys in a bit."

Quarke watched Subaru walk out the door, hoping nothing went wrong.

Outside, the old man was still watering his garden, minding his own business. Subaru waved at him before making his way to Emilia's, a block away from Rem's.

* * *

The old man carefully watered the bush of roses he kept growing under the window sill. It was something his wife loved to look at, but didn't put time to keep them healthy. That was his job, to keep the roses and the rest of the exotic flowers in front of the house healthy.

It's not like it really mattered now since him and his wife were planning to live the rest of their lives in Hawaii. It was something that came up during dinner a few months ago. He was sure moving to Hawaii would keep his wife happy until the day of her death. It wasn't something that he wanted to think about, but it was definitely something he wanted for her.

Thinking this, the old man looked up from behind some bushes to see one of his neighbors sprinting at him.


	8. Guns, Guts, and Glory

**AN: JDUBZ is a good Beta Reader, maybe even the best. *Looks into the distance***

Chapter 8: Guns, Guts, and Glory

"What are you doing? NO! STOP IT! STO-! GAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A blood curdling scream broke the peaceful silence of the street.

Subaru stopped in his tracks. Looking back, his worst nightmare was realized; walkers were here.

A walker was now tearing apart the old man who was in the garden's throat, ripping the flesh easily and gulping it down without chewing. The blood flowing out of the old man's throat bubbled as air from his lungs escaped his body. The dreams he had planned with his wife died with him. This wasn't part of his plan. A brutal end should never had befallen him, but Subaru could do nothing. Dying wasn't worth it.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

A walker had caught sight of Subaru and was charging at him. With no other option other than to fight, Subaru swung the bat and knocked the walker to the side.

Two other walkers had taken notice to the noise Subaru had created and began to sprint at him.

 _Only a block away._

Instead of taking on three walkers with vision, Subaru decided to run. Taking on three blind walkers was no sweat for him. All he had to do was kill them one by one and move quietly. However, if three of them could see then they would know where he was at all times. It would be like fighting three extremely pissed off cannibals who would do anything to kill him. It was a fight he was sure he had no chance of winning.

Running as fast as he could, Subaru was still unable to lose the walkers that chased him. _Crap. At this rate I'm just going to end up bringing them to Emilia._ He could see her house a few houses down. It was easy to spot since it was the only two story house on the block.

"Damn it." Subaru pulled out his phone and called Emilia. "Please pick up!"

The walkers started to shorten the distance between them and Subaru. One was just barely able to grab his collar. At one point, it's fingers even brushed Subaru's neck, sending a jolt up his spine.

Picking up the pace, Subaru swung his arm behind him and hit the walker on the side of the head with the bat. The walker stumbled and fell, but ended up getting right back into its feet without hesitation.

 _"Hello? Subaru?"_

Subaru heard Emilia from his phone and hastily answered her, "Yes it's me Emilia! I-I don't want to be a b-burden, but can you open the front door please?"

 _"Are you OK, Subaru? You sound out of breath."_

Subaru looked back at the walkers chasing him, then looked back forward, "I've been better."

 _"Well why do you need me to open my front door?"_

Subaru huffed and puffed as he kept running, "It's umm, ah….it's a surprise."

 _"You're not very good as surprises, Subaru."_

Emilia agreed to open the door for Subaru despite not knowing his intentions. While Emilia was the cutest and charming girl he knew, he could see that she needed to work on her ability to read people. She was naive in that sense.

Just as he reached Emilia's neighbor's house, Emilia opened her front door, still in a pink nightdress, and looked around. Her purple eyes scanned the area as her long silver hair flowed behind her every time she turned her head. Her uniquely, purple eyes landed on Subaru and the people chasing him. To her, she saw Subaru, who was splattered with blood and had a bat in his hand, being followed by three other men who looked angry. The sounds that came from their mouths terrified her. Their mouths were also filled with red, bloody teeth, making them look even more savage.

She worryingly took a step back into the house, not sure what to do.

Subaru helped her decide, "Emilia, don't close the door!"

A walker almost grabbed Subaru, but missed when he made a sudden turn towards the house's front door.

Subaru ran up the front yard and yelled at the terrified Emilia, "Get inside!"

She didn't need to be told twice and backed into the house, hoping Subaru knew what he was doing.

Emilia yelped when Subaru ran through the front door and slammed it shut behind him. She barely said, "Subaru?" before the walkers began to slam on the door with all their might.

Emilia could hear the yells of them and grabbed Subaru's hand and pulled him away from the door. Subaru and her backed away from the door, she looked at him with her purple eyes with fear. "Subaru? What's going on?"

The door already began to crack. These walkers were surprisingly stronger than the bunch he had to deal with at his house. _Perhaps their strength as a walker was determined by how strong they were as a human?_ It was a theory, one that made sense. But there was no time for theorizing, the door was breaking down, they needed a plan.

 _Think, think, think._

Number one thing, keep Emilia safe. His own life didn't matter compared to hers. He would die for his Emilia.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the front door and began moving to the back of the house. Since they were childhood friends, Subaru was familiar with the layout of the house from the many times he had been over.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Subaru pointed up them, "Upstairs! Now!" But Emilia didn't move.

The door could be heard crashing to the floor. The walkers groaned loudly as they searched for the two.

 _Crap!_

"Subaru!"

Subaru got behind Emilia and pressed on her back, forcing her feet to start moving up the stairs, "Go!Go!Go!Go!"

"RRRAAAGGGGHHHHHH!"

Knowing that the walkers had heard him, Subaru ended up carrying Emilia up the stairs bridal style.

"Subaru! What are you doing?!"

Her screams of confusion only egged the walkers on as they knew where to look.

Subaru leaped up the stairs faster than he thought he could when carrying Emilia. When he reached the top, a walker had made it to the bottom and caught sight of him.

 _Emilia is heavier than I thought._

The adrenaline rush Subaru had felt before had dissipated so now the weight of Emilia had struck him and he struggled to carry her further. He really should've worked out when he had the time before this all happened.

Subaru started to pant as he ran down a short hallway and slammed open the only door at the end. He dropped Emilia's legs, letting her stand. Quickly slamming the door just as the walker reached to top of the staircase, Subaru commanded Emilia, "In the closet!"

Just as Emilia did as she was told, the walker reached the door and began to tear it down.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

From inside the closet, Emilia shut her eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening. Subaru was in her house with three men trying to attack them. She was sure Subaru knew something because he seemed to have it under control somewhat, but that still didn't make her feel better. This situation reminded her of a scary movie she saw two minutes of before she started crying. She just hoped it would all just go away.

Emilia could hear Subaru scream at the walker, "Come on! Come at me, fucker!" The speed of the banging increased.

She could here the splintering of wood as the zombie began to break down the door. When the sound stopped, two screams pierced the short silence.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Emilia covered her ears. There was a clanging sound, like metal on stone. Right after, a loud _CRASH_ -ing sound rang out like something had hit a wall or shelf. An angry groan, Subaru yelling, another clang, and then a gurgling sound. Emilia stood for a moment, listening to comforting silence.

Emilia sighed, sweat dripping down her forehead. She didn't want to open the door, she was afraid of what she'll see. The thought of a dead man bleeding in her room sickened and horrified her, but she was sure that what she heard was correct. That man had died. She was sure Subaru had killed him.

Going against her own will, Emilia slowly opened the door and peeked outside. It was just as she feared. A man whose head was now indescribable was dead against her drawers. Blood poured from injuries and seeped into the carpet. What was worse was that Subaru had just taken the bat out of the man's head. His face had a splash of blood on it. His eyes were fierce and squinched, he was ready to do anything.

Just as she was about to call to Subaru, another walker ran into the room and attacked Subaru.

Emilia screamed from its sudden appearance and stepped back.

The walker snapped at Subaru's arm. However, Subaru was barely able to pull it away just in time when the walker closed its mouth. This didn't stop the walker from tackling Subaru to the ground and start to push itself onto him.

The bat had fallen out of his hands so the only thing keeping the walker from biting him was his own strength, but this alone wasn't enough. The walker shook it's head violently as it neared Subaru's neck.

"Subaru!" Emilia rushed out of the closet and stood there, not knowing how to help Subaru.

His teeth clenched, Subaru noticed Emilia and said, "Hit..him..with..something."

Emilia started to cry from the intense situation she was suddenly put in, "I-I-I don't know what to do! What do I hit him with?"

Still pushing with all his might, Subaru looked into the dead eyes of the walker, "Anything!"

That's when Emilia made the decision.

As the walker's drool dripped onto Subaru's neck, Subaru could only delay his death by pushing back with all the energy he could muster. That was when a large object came from the side and hit the walker's head.

The walker was unhurt, but looked at where the attacker was.

Emilia stood, shaking in her spot with a large, square pillow the size of her body in front of her. Her face was pale from fear, but she stood her ground when the walker looked at her with a bloodshot eyes.

Subaru mimicked his own thoughts, "A pillow?!"

The walker snapped his attention back at Subaru, but looked back at Emilia when she came in for another attack. She shoved the pillow into his face and held it there. However, the walker decided to turn Emilia into its next meal and charged at her with the pillow between them.

Emilia screamed when the walker pushed her onto her bed and began to swipe at the pillow between them. She held the pillow at the sides so the walker didn't knock it to the side because she could tell that if the walker got to her she would be killed.

She fearfully defended herself, yelling for help, "Subaru!"

Subaru got up from the floor and started to go help Emilia, but from the corner of his eye was the third and last walker standing in the doorway.

In the split second that he had, Subaru weighed his options. If he save Emilia now, then he would die from the walker that just came. However, if he dealt with this walker, then Emilia would be probably be dead. Looking at the pillow between Emilia and the walker, Subaru noticed it was still in one piece. He had time to save kill this walker first.

However, the bat was nowhere to be seen. _Probably rolled under the bed…_

There was a thin glass vase next to him, but what was that going to do? Before he could think of something, the walker charged him. Subaru dodged it and watched as the walker ran head first into the window that had been behind him, cracking it. This gave Subaru a stupid idea.

The walker turned back to Subaru instantly and charged again. He again dodged the attack and kicked the walker in the back, sending it tumbling out of the room.

Subaru ran and took his place in front of the window, his legs spread and bent while his hands were in front of him. The walker outside the room got up and sprinted at Subaru.

 _Just like a video game._

When the walker was within arms reach, Subaru grabbed to front of it's shirt with his hands and squated down. The momentum of the walker went over Subaru, letting him pull the zombie over his head easily. With this, Subaru extended his legs again as he threw the walker out the window.

Without wasting time, Subaru grabbed the glass vase and smashed it on top of the walker's head that was attacking the pillow Emilia was sheltered under.

With the zombie temporarily distracted, Subaru shoved it into the closet and slammed the door.

Almost immediately, the walker began to bang on the door.

Emilia got off her bed and went to Subaru, watching the closet door shake. "Subaru, you haven't told me anything! Why is this happening?"

Subaru got on his hands and knees and sweeped the bottom of Emilia's bed with an arm. "I don't know why this is happening, but it's deadly and we have to get out of here, Emilia!"

His hand brushed the metal bat. He grasped it and pulled it from under Emilia's bed.

Emilia back up with fear still in her eyes, "Subaru…..why are you killing people?"

A hand burst from the closet door and slowly retreated back in. The walker put its face up against the hole and shot its eyes back and forth between Emilia and Subaru. It continued to pound harder on the door.

"Because they're trying to kill us, Emilia! Can't you see that?" He pointed the bat at the walker currently destroying the door. He grabbed onto Emilia's hand and began pulling her out of her room, saying with desperation, "Now come on, we have to leave before he gets out of there!" Subaru had made it just past the door frame when Emilia tugged her hand from him..

No longer feeling Emilia's smooth hand in his grasp, Subaru turned around to meet her gaze. Emilia's purple eyes were concentrated with seriousness on the matter, "Why, Subaru? I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you are doing this." She slowly back away into her room as her eyes softened again, "Subaru…...You're scaring me." Her eyes glanced down at the bat in his hand. She was shaking.

 _No…_

Emilia was afraid of him, afraid of what he'd done. She didn't understand the desperation to survive, the spreading of this infection. Emilia was oblivious to it all, to her Subaru had just committed murder. The emotional pain of knowing that she was scared of him was just as severe as when Rem had refused to believe him in another loop. In that one, she had feared him as well. That one didn't end well.

Subaru dropped the bat and stepped towards Emilia, she stepped back. Subaru stopped and put his hands to the side. "Emilia….you don't understand what's happening."

Emilia still kept her distance, "Then tell me, Subaru. Tell me what yo-." Emilia was slammed into the wall by the walker that had been in the closet.

 _NO!!!_

Apparently, fate didn't want Subaru to be happy. It wanted everyone he loved to die. It separated him from his parents, killed Rem and Ram multiple times, and now it was going to take Emilia. He'd be damned if he let that happen.

Before the walker could clamp its jaws on Emilia's skin, Subaru grabbed it by the neck, preventing it from getting any closer. However, he didn't have enough leverage to push the walker off of Emilia. Instead of pushing it off, Subaru decided to weaken it. Raising a foot, Subaru brought it down onto the walker's knee, breaking it. Despite not feeling pain, the walker was still forced to balance itself.

The zombie now switched it's attention to Subaru, grabbing one of his leg and pulling it towards its mouth. Linking his hands behind the walker's head, Subaru slammed his knee into the walker's face. The force of it knocked the walker to its back. The walker flailed around and tried to get to it's feet. Before it could, Subaru grabbed Emilia's blanket from her bed and threw it onto the zombie. Hopefully it would occupy it long enough for them to escape.

"We have to hurry." Subaru grabbed Emilia's hand again and ran down the stairs. This time, Emilia didn't stop running with him. From the second Subaru had called her, she knew something was wrong. Nothing could have prepared her for what she was going to have to witness in this new world she now lived in.

* * *

Subaru and Emilia ran back down the street towards Rem's house until they encountered more zombies. They had traveled further down and had been infecting people on the way.

"Hide." Subaru pulled Emilia into the nearest yard and hid behind some bushes. Subaru looked at the house they hid in front of. A man was reloading a revolver he had in his hand. When the man looked out the window he saw the walkers. His eyes widened in terror. _I guess he watched the news._

The man looked down at Subaru and Emilia. Subaru put a finger to his mouth, telling the man to not make any noise. If he did, then walkers would be on all of them.

Emilia was on the verge of tears as she heard the walkers groan as they passed. "Subar-." Subaru's hand covered her mouth.

Suddenly, a loud booming sound echoed across the whole block. Subaru and Elimia flinched at the sudden burst of sound. They weren't the only ones affected however. A collective groan came from the small mass of walkers, some ran and some just shuffled their way over.

Heart thumping from the mild heart attack, Subaru slowly peeked his head over the top of the bush to peek over. A walker ran across his vision, making him shrink back down. Emilia held onto his arm to calm him down when she herself needed the comforting. Subaru smiled at Emilia and mouthed, 'Thank you'.

Subaru again peeked his head over, finding all the walkers making their way to a single house. _The loud noise. It must attracted all of them._

This was their chance, and Subaru was going to take it. He lowered himself and turned to Emilia, "Do you trust me?"

Even though she was previously afraid of Subaru, he had saved her life. She knew he would never hurt her. So whatever he did, he did to keep her safe from the walkers. Subaru was her hero.

Emilia immediately started nodding. Trusting Subaru with her life.

Subaru smiled and took Emilia's hand into his. He stayed there longer than he expected, staring into Emilia's glistening eyes. It wasn't until the booming sound occurred again did Subaru snap out of his trance. He blinked and helped Emilia to her feet. Still holding her hand, Subaru led her away from the house and ran towards Rem's.

* * *

The man in the window finished reloading the revolver. Six bullets ready to fire.

He watched as the two kids outside his house ran away from his front yard. He nodded to himself with a pained smile.

Spinning the cylinder of the revolver, the man made his way to the living room. That was where he took his last look at the television.

The screen displayed the view from a news helicopter as it flew over San Francisco. The city was burning, people were dying and it wasn't stopping. The next video was of Seattle, also in chaos. Next was Hong Kong, then Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai, and even Baghdad.

Nothing is said to be known of the origin of the virus. The only explanation would be worldwide terrorism, but even that seemed improbable for it seemed to strike everyone by surprise. The virus was spreading fast, starting in major cities and expanding. The attempts to suppress it by CEDA proved to be useless. However, they assured that a more serious approach would be made now that they were aware of the effects of the virus; rage, hunger, and seemingly endless stamina.

To the man, it was the end of the world. The infection had taken over some of the world's most popular cities in only a few hours. Soon, very soon, the infection would spread across a whole continent, turning everyone into monsters. It was a future the man wished not to see.

He turned off the television and looked at his reflection on the dusty surface. He saw a man who had given up, there was nothing he could do. If he lived, the only thing he would see was a burning world struck with something, a plague sent by God to eradicate the human race and start from scratch. It was a sign that they had done something wrong to punish them, something they did to destroy all life on Earth.

The man didn't want any part of God's wrath.

He lifted the gun to his head and cocked the hammer while his eyes settled onto a bible that laid on the coffee table in front of him.

Straining his whole body, the man whispered, "Forgive me, Father."

* * *

A distinct gunshot rang out, causing the walkers to stop in their tracks.

Subaru stupidly stopped running and looked back. It had came from the man's house. _The man..._

Another person Subaru couldn't save.

Choosing not to dwell on it, Subaru turned back to the direction they were going. _Only two more houses down._

He tugged again on Emilia's arm, "Let's go, Emilia." Not wanting to stay any longer.

However, Emilia didn't move. When Subaru ahead lightly tugged at Emilia's arm, she didn't budge. Before looking at her, Subaru heard her ask fearfully, "Su..ba..ru?"

When he looked at Emilia, her eyes weren't planted on his, instead they focused on across the street. Subaru followed her gaze and met the eyes of all the walkers gifted with sight. _Oh….no._

While the ones that could see were staring at Subaru and Emilia, the ones that couldn't still had their heads tilted in the direction of the gunshot.

With over fourteen pairs of eyes trained on them, Subaru felt like a slab of meat that was being eyed by hungry wild dogs. They were outnumbered, nothing was saving them. But Subaru still had Emilia alive, the warmth of her palm and the sweetness of her smile is what drove him to not give up when she was attacked. That was enough for Subaru to not give up just yet, and live another day.

Without saying anything, Subaru gripped Emilia's hand harder and forcefully pulled her with him so they could make it to Rem's house and hopefully hide in the basement before the zombies could reach them.

One of the larger zombies let out a ferocious roar, "RRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWHHHH!"

All the visually enabled walkers charged them at once. With this came the blind ones as well, following the sounds of their companions.

Subaru looked at his empty hand. _No!_

He had forgotten his bat at Emilia's. He had no way of protecting himself from the walkers.

 ** _BANG!_**

A group of the walkers fell to the floor and flailed around, their backs broken and bloody.

Subaru looked across the street. It was the man who had killed Subaru. Well, killed Subaru when he was infected. The man hand stepped outside his house and fired a shotgun shell into the mob. Subaru quickly realized that it was the same sound from earlier. This man had been setting off his shotgun, attracting an innumerable amount of zombies.

The man pumped his shotgun and fired again into the crowd, dropping more walkers. However, this still wasn't enough. A few walkers still chased after Subaru and Emilia. While some others were attracted to the man with the shotgun.

If it came to it, Subaru decided that he would sacrifice himself for Emilia. At least then he would know Emilia would live and he would die, just to start over and make things right. But this would only occurs if he deemed it necessary, he didn't like dying, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Hehe.

They were in front of Rem's house when the walkers caught up with them. Being the gentleman he was, Subaru opened the front door and shoved Emilia inside to ensure her safety first. Subaru went to go in just as the walkers came, but his track suit collar was grabbed by one of the walkers and pushed to the ground.

Three zombies simultaneously bent down to bite into him. Subaru covered his face with his arms, trying, feebly, to protect himself.

That was when Quark raised his gun and planted a bullet into two of the walkers. Their heads flew back from the impact. The zombie, that was about to finish Subaru, was knocked to the side forcefully. Subaru scrabbled to a sitting by position and scooted his way into the house.

"You should be thanking me, Barusu."

Subaru looked next to the doorway. Ram stood there with her wooden kendo sword.

Subaru smiled, gracious for the help, "Thank you, Gordon."

Ram scoffed. "What?"

"Gordon. You know, like Gordon _Ram_ say."

"That's has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. But it did come from Barusu so it isn't surprising."

"Hey! It took me-!"

Quark interrupted the two's squabbling as shot at walkers approaching their house, "Children! Now is most certainly not the time for that!"

Subaru popped to his feet, "Right." He looked around, noticing some missing faces, "Where's Emilia and Rem?"

Ram answered with a bored face, as usual, "Rem went to take Emilia into the basement."

Quark moved from the front door and to the windows, where the walkers were now moving to, "Well she better hurry up! I'm running low on ammunition!" He reloaded, now on his last clip. "Damn." Looking outside, they were thirteen walkers left. He'd have to make use of every bullet.

Subaru started walking to the kitchen, "I'll get Rem! Ram, while your dad takes the windows, you keep them from getting in through the front door!"

Ram nodded.

When Subaru went into the kitchen, he found the couch had been moved there. It may have been a way to block the door when they decided to hide in it. Clever.

He walked past the couch and opened the basement door. Just in the other side was Rem who was reaching for the door. Her shocked expression was instantly replaced with happiness upon seeing Subaru. She went to lunge at him and give him a big hug, but Subaru stopped her by planting his hands on her shoulders, "I know you want a hug, Rem, and I promise I'll hug you later, but we need your help." He looked at her empty hands, "Where's your gun?"

Rem pulled it from behind her and laid it on her palms, "Here it is, Subaru darling."

"Good," he lead Rem to the front room, "because we're gonna do some target practice."

Rem froze when she saw her father shooting out of the window and her sister swinging her stick at incoming walkers. A walker jumped halfway through the window and clawed at the air, but Quark shoved the gun into its mouth and fired a bullet. Ram was repeatedly hitting a walker as it got closer, she hit the legs, arms, head, anything she could, and seemed to be working. However, Quark was running low on ammo and Ram was starting to have a hard time keeping off more than one at a time.

Subaru looked at Rem, "Rem? We need you right now, I need you right now!"

Rem looked fearfully at the walkers, "Subaru…..needs Rem?" She looked at Subaru with confused look.

"Yes! Subaru needs his Rem, and he needs her right now!"

Rem looked back at the small mass of walkers, "I….I….I….."

Subaru turned Rem to face him, saying to her face with urgency, "You said you'd protect me, Rem! You said that and I know you remember! Please…..protect me!"

Rem looked at her gun.

* * *

A boy kicked the stomach of a smaller kid that was on the floor, "What, you thought you could just snitch on me?"

The smaller kid tried to breath as he spoke fearfully, "I...I….I didn't think that she would….be mad."

The kid kick him again, "That's what you thought, idiot!"

Another delinquent nearby spoke up, "Let's teach him a lesson."

The alpha leaned down and spoke calmly, but threateningly, "You see, kid, when you tattle-tale on us, there are consequences."

"What should we do to him?"

"Make him pay, our way."

A barrage of punches rained down upon the little boy, his back, arms, and head got most of the blows since he curled up into a ball. It went on for what seemed like forever before the boys stopped at the sound of a girl's voice.

"What are you doing?!"

The boys stopped and looked at the girl, "Mind your own business, girly!"

The girl pulled out her phone and said seriously, "I'm calling my daddy!"

The other kid looked panicked at urged the bigger kid away, "Dude, her dad's a cop! We gotta go, I don't wanna be in trouble again!"

The bigger kid looked at the girl with a sour look before following his friend.

The girl put her phone back into her jacket and ran to the boy's side. He was bruised, but other than that there were no major injuries. The girl felt relieved as she helped him to a sitting position.

She looked at his dirt encrusted face and began wiping it off with her hands, asking, "Are you alright?"

The boy stayed silent and only shook his head. He looked up at the girl.

"Thank you, Rem." He looked away in shame, having been saved by a girl. "Sorry I caused trouble."

Rem smiled, happy to know Subaru was okay to speak. "Subaru, Rem is just happy to know you're okay."

Subaru slowly nodded. Like that, Subaru started to cry again. The pain and humiliation he felt poured out his eyes as he cried in front of a girl who he'd know almost since birth. It was embarrassing, but he didn't care, the tears wouldn't stop.

However, his tears slowed down when he suddenly felt two arms wrapped around him. He opened his bloodshot eyes to only see blue in his vision, blue hair. Rem was hugging him.

Shock replaced his previous sadness. He lifted his hands from his sides, "Rem, what are you doing?"

With the side of her face pressed into his chest, Rem replied soothingly, "Making sure nothing hurts you anymore." She put some space between them so she could look at him. "Subaru's face is like a baby's. When you cried, Rem felt like crying too. So I thought if I hugged you, you wouldn't cry anymore."

The situation was so bizarre and sweet to him that Subaru had to choke back more tears from falling. Giving into the hug, Subaru cried until he couldn't cry anymore. After then, he lifted his head again and smiled.

Rem did the same when she saw Subaru's lips curl, "See, when Subaru smiles, Rem will do so as well because it's a beautiful thing….to be happy."

Subaru's smile didn't falter, he thought of just how blessed to know Rem. Had he never known her he didn't know what he'd do to get out of certain situations.

"You said….nothing is going to hurt me?"

"Nothing….I will protect you, Subaru."

Subaru started to laugh lightheartedly, a quiet one that was like music to Rem's ears. Slowly, his laughter turned into sobs. Tears of happiness fell from his face as leaned his head on Rem's shoulder. Between sobs, he quietly said into her shoulder, "Thank….you."

* * *

"RRRRAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

The walkers started to overpower Ram, one managed to grab the sword and pull it from her grasp. It bit into the wood, but found it inedible and threw it aside.

Quark was out of ammo and was starting to kick the walkers that wanted in through the window.

"Please…..protect me!" Subaru's voice. The same voice Rem remembers vowing to all those years ago. A vow to protect the one she considered a friend. A vow to protect everyone she loved. A vow to stay happy.

"Rem will protect her Subaru."

Rem rose the gun and pointed it at a walker that had gotten hold of her sister. "Rem will stay happy..." She shot the walker in the head, allowing Ram to scramble away and run to her father, "..to keep everyone happy." She emptied the entire clip into the front doorway of the house where multiple walkers tunneled through, aiming only for the heads. A look of crazy flashed in her eyes as she reloaded and fired more shots. Their unfiltered madness didn't go unnoticed. Ram looked in near fear at her own sister's demonic look as she fired shot after shot into the frenzy.

Subaru grabbed Ram's sword from the ground and used it to stab any walkers that crawled in through the window. One walker did grab the sword and pulled on it, but Subaru made sure that his foot would be the first to greet them.

It became apparent that the number of walkers trying to get into the house was shrinking exponentially. This gave Subaru more hope when no zombie were trying to crawl into the window.

Subaru watched as a walker sprinted through the front door as Rem was reloading. With a roar, Subaru charged to intercept the walker. The sword ripped through the walker's side, skewering it. He stopped running and let the walker slid off of the sword and fall to the floor. Not surprisingly, the walker quickly tried to get its feet, but was stopped by Subaru's foot on its chest. The walker grabbed at his leg, desperately trying to bite it, but not sure how to get to it. With hatred, Subaru brought the tip of the sword down hard into the eye socket of the walker. The arms of the beast went limp and dropped to the floor.

With the walkers dead, Subaru, leaned on the wall. He had completely worn himself out from his efforts to escape and kill the walkers.

The crazy look in Rem's eyes died out, and returned to normal, "Did-Did Rem do good?"

Quark put a thumbs up, "Damn good, sweetie."

Just then, the yelling of a crowd of walkers could heard. It sounded far off, but it was still bone chilling.

Subaru froze in fear, "What-What was that?"

The roaring continued to get louder and louder. Ram looked out the window, and said worryingly, "Barusu, it sounds like a lot. What did we do?"

A ringing sound was still in Subaru's ears, "The guns…."

Rem looked at her gun, "What?"

Subaru threw the sword to Ram and walked outside. He walked into the street and looked down either side. Nothing was on it but the deceased, cold bodies of the undead.

The man with the shotgun exited his own house upon hearing the same noise. The sounds grew louder and louder each passing second. Like Ram said, it sounded like there were a lot. It made sense to Subaru why that would be. They'd been shooting shotgun shells and bullets all willy nilly when the walkers were obviously attracted to sound.

When the man had fired the first shotgun shell. The walkers didn't see it, they had just heard it.

Their gunshots must have attracted every walker in a mile radius. Now they were coming their way.

The first walker rounded a corner from a few streets down. Subaru watched as dozens upon dozens of walkers followed closely behind. It was a large horde of them.

Quark had just walked out of the house when Subaru started to run back. Quark was slightly confused when Subaru started to push him back towards the house, "Subaru, what are you doing?"

Subaru didn't answer, instead he continued to pushQuark until he was in the house again. "They're coming! More of them are coming!"

Quark took control of his daughters and herded them into the basement while Subaru blocked the front door with chairs and whatever he could find. He shut the windows and locked them for good measure.

The horde was louder, Subaru knew he had to hurry.

Quark came back to the living room and grabbed Subaru, "Subaru, let's go!"

Nodding, Subaru ran with him to the kitchen and went through the basement door.

Quark moved the couch so it settled right in front of the doorway. From there, he closed the door and locked it then slid the large piece of wood down in place so it prevented the door from opening.

From below ground, the small group of survivors huddled together, listening as a wave of death struck their neighbors.

There was only question going through everyone's mind.

 _How much longer can we survive this?_


	9. Shopping

**AN: Beta Reader for this chapter was the one, the only...JDUBZ!**

Chapter 9: Shopping

* * *

 **May 11, 2015**

 **4:27pm**

A light breeze rustled the tall grass growing in the backyard of an abandoned house. It's smashed windows had jagged ends of glass, stained red with blood. The backdoor was nonexistent, a broken pile of deformed wood, just inside of the house.

Inside the broken house, past the furniture that was torn and tossed aside, and resting on a kitchen table, covered with blood, stood a small mobile radio.

Through the static that it spewed, a voice spoke out.

 _"Across the globe, the infection continues to spread. It is accounted that over 68% of the world's population had already been infected with the, now known, Mortuus Virus within the first two weeks."_

A man stepped into the house through the back door, a hammer in his hand, and opened a door to one of the rooms.

 _"Los Angeles, San Francisco, and most of California has fallen. Of the United States as a whole, the Midwestern and Southeastern are devoid of any non-infected areas. Northeastern states, excluding Maryland, are currently being quarantined as to avoid any infected from getting in."_

Another person, with a metal bat, followed closely behind the man and went into a different room.

 _"As of the Western part, temporary Safe Zones have been set up by CEDA as of two days ago to temporarily keep survivors until they are ready to be transported to the Northeastern states."_

The two intruders meet each other at the back door and decide to check the rest of the house together.

 _"All airports are currently closed, in hopes of stopping the spread from worsening. However, it is said that individuals with personal aircrafts have been using their own to travel long distances. In an attempt to keep order, all planes or helicopters NOT part of the US Armed Forces that are in use will be handled with quickly and efficiently."_

The two men stepped into the kitchen and inspected the radio.

 _"So far, there have been 15 casualties involving the use of personal aircrafts. Officials say, and I quote, 'They are measures that need to be taken under such a serious and overwhelming situation. During times like these, we must do anything and everything to suppress the situation to prevent it from growing into a bigger problem than it already is.'"_

The first man lit a cigarette and and said to the other, "Subaru, remind me that we should pick that up on the way back. It'll be useful to catch up on what we've been missing while surviving this shit storm."

Quarke took a long drag of the cigarette and exhaled the smoke.

Subaru turned the radio off and said to Quarke, "I still don't think you should be smoking during times like these. Shouldn't your health be the first thing you worry about?" Quarke had apparently been a smoker in his youth, but quit when his wife made him when she was pregnant with the twins. Now he had taken it up again as a way to relieve stress.

Quarke flicked the ashes onto the floor and chuckled a bit, "The first thing I'm worrying about is my daughters. To hell with me," he finished off the cigarette with one more long drag and held it in before exhaling, "My only purpose now is to make sure they stay alive and make it to safety."

Subaru nodded, understanding fully that he would give anything to keep Rem and Ram safe. He would do the same, for them, and especially for Emilia.

Quarke threw the cigarette to the tile floor and smashed it with his shoes. He looked at Subaru with a friendly smile and asked knowingly, "Speaking of which, what are we doing here again?"

Subaru clapped his hands and said, "Right, searching for clothes and medicine." Two important things they currently needed.

"Then let's get lookin'!"

Subaru and Quarke scavenged the house for supplies. They were able to get through it without any incidences with the undead.

However, the fruits of their labor proved to be very little. The previous occupants of the house only had clothing in Quarke's size and no medication that they needed. It seemed that they would need to search another house.

Jumping the fence in the backyard to go to another house, Subaru pointed out, "We could go to the Wilsons' house. I heard the husband is a pharmacist, so maybe he'll have what we need."

Quarke tried to jump the wooden fence. He almost hurt himself when the wood snapped. "Oh!" He stared at the piece of snapped wood in his hand. Grabbing onto the top of the ply of wood, he snapped it from its place. "That makes this much easier." Saying that, he started removing more of the fence.

As Quarke worked, he went off from what Subaru said, "Well, Wilson was a pharmacist, but with what's been going on I don't think that's the case anymore." He removed yet another plank of wood, making a gap big enough for him to fit through. "Also, I don't think someone like him is just gonna be carrying Zanamivir around. I can see him carrying normal over-the-counter meds, but we need something stronger. Something like Ibuprofen won't be enough."

Despite the hole already being big enough, Subaru helped by kicking planks off. Upon hearing Quarke, Subaru asked, "Wait, so you never anticipated us finding it in the first place? Then why waste time searching for it?"

Quarke went through the makeshift hole in the fence. "Because, you never know. The flu's very common to begin with. So someone may have some."

"Shouldn't we be going to a pharmacy then?" The thought of going out into the city scared Subaru, but he knew they weren't gonna find the medication Ram needed randomly searching houses.

Quarke looked at the house they were standing behind and put his hands to hip hips, "You think so?" He exhaled, "It's just, the city is probably crawling with those things. We're lucky there's not many in the neighborhood compared to there."

Two weeks ago, when the horde of walkers stormed through the street, killing and tearing the flesh from anyone who was unprepared, they had hung around for a while before moving on. They didn't seem to have a sense of where to go, just that they had to move and search for…. _food_. Resulting them to spread out and wander aimlessly across town and the neighborhood.

Subaru hit the back door of the house hard with the bat multiple times, "I think getting to a pharmacy is our best course of action here. If we don't, Ram is just gonna get worse and we won't be able to move anywhere if she's bed ridden."

When Quarke heard a noise from within the house he said, "I was thinking the same thing, but I don't know where we'd go. We know next to nothing about what's been happening out there other than what that radio said."

For the past weeks, all five of them have stayed in the basement of the house. For now, Rem, Ram, and Emilia stayed there while Subaru and Quarke had assigned themselves as to the ones to scavenge houses for food, water, and anything that would be useful. They stuck only to this street so they didn't venture too far off from the house in case they ran into a problem too large for them to handle. The problem was the looming danger that still clung thickly in the air whenever they opened the door to a new house.

Subaru had a laid back look, saying to Quarke in a cocky manner, "Well, we've got the radio with us now so we'll just need to listen for where Safe Zones will pop up and we make our way there."

At that moment, a walker had walked up to the back door from within the house upon hearing the banging and voices. The two men heard as the walker began to frantically bang on the door.

Quarke nodded, "A Safe Zone would be perfect for my daughters and your girlfriend. That way, we'll know for sure they'll be safe."

Subaru blushed, "Emilia's not my girlfriend! She's…...a friend." He looked away to hide his embarrassed look.

Quarke chuckled for a bit, "Maybe she doesn't feel the same, but you obviously like her." He glanced at the door that was shaking violently. "Hey, that one's making too much noise. Anywho, it's your turn."

"RRRRRAAAGGGHHH!"

Still flustered, Subaru said with attitude, "Yeah, yeah." He opened the door and let the walker swing into open air. Holding the bat in a bunting position, Subaru hit the walker in the face, sending to take a few steps back. Raising the bat above him, he brought it down hard on top of the walker's head.

* * *

 **5:44pm**

"You gonna need help?"

"Son, I was in the LAPD. I think I know how to climb a wall."

"Alrighty then." With this, Subaru removed his backpack and threw it over the brick wall that led to the alleyway that Subaru had taken on his way to LA. Next, he threw over his metal bat, making a loud clanging noise as it hit the concrete floor. The sudden loud noise caused Quarke to jump suddenly.

Agitated, he said sarcastically, "Damn it, Subaru. Could you make it any louder?"

"Well," Subaru backed up and ran at the wall, kicking o to its surface to launch himself higher. Grunting, he was able to pull himself up to the top of the wall and sit. "It's not like I'm trying."

Quarke did the same as Subaru and said, "Well, you sure as hell are doing a damn good job at this 'not trying' thing if it means making a lot of noise."

Subaru smiled and dropped down onto the other side, "That's my specialty." He dusted his shirt and put the backpack on. When Quarke dropped down , Subaru asked, "So what pharmacy are we going to?" He felt they needed to have a plan instead of getting into the city and figuring it out amongst so many walkers.

"There's that CVS on Figueroa, but if that doesn't work there's always the Walgreens and Rite Aid just down Seventh."

"How long is that gonna take?"

Quarke put on his backpack and looked at the falling sun, "Well, if we move fast we may be able to get back before the sun sets."

"I'm not sure if I like those odds." Getting stuck at night wasn't a fun thing to go through where walkers were out and about. Subaru knew more than anybody about how terrifying that was.

* * *

 **6:07pm**

Quarke and Subaru hid behind a car as a mass of walkers aimlessly walked the littered city streets just a few feet from them.

Subaru peeked through the car windows to see the walkers shuffling around with no purpose. They acted differently from how they did two weeks ago. It seemed that the ones with sight had grown to be more alert of their surroundings. They had developed somewhat of a memory.

What scared Subaru the most was that they seemed to redevelop the ability to open doors. It was two days ago when Subaru witnessed a walker jerk it's hand onto a door knob and twist it in it's palm. The walker turned the knob counter-clockwise and didn't end up opening the door, but it proved that they were changing for worse. The question Subaru was scared of the answer was; Just how smart were they going to get?

The only difference the blind walkers had gone through was a change in sensitivity. Now anything would set them off; a cough, a word, any sound that wasn't another walker.

Looking panicked, Subaru said as quietly as possible, "What do we do now? There's a lot more than we thought there would be."

Quarke was also surprised at the sheer numbers of walkers. He began patting down his pockets, "Ummmm…." As quietly as he could, he began removing his backpack.

Subaru watched with wide eyes, "OK, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. We should just let Ram get better on her own. We'll give her some meds so her fever reduces and then we could make our move then."

Quarke started sifting through his backpack, "Running is not an option here, Subaru. If we go on the move while my daughter is sick, she might get us sick as well. And if we're all sick we'll be weaker in a fight." He pulled out a short stream of firecrackers, "This is the best option for us."

"Weren't you the one that didn't want to come here in the first place?"

"Yes, but that was before I realized how improbable it was that we would find Zanamivir in the common household."

Quarke pulled out his lighter while Subaru looked at the flame, "You think this'll work?"

Quarke held the flame close to the fuse, "I have to hope it works."

 _We are going to die here._

Subaru looked at Quarke, "If we die because of this, I'm blaming you afterwards."

Quarke chuckled.

 _No, really. I am._

Lighting the fuse, Quarke said to Subaru, "Remember…...Zanamivir."

Subaru said frantically, "I got it, I got it. Just throw the damn thing."

Stepping away from the car, Quarke threw the bundle of firecrackers as far as he could. They landed on the hood of a car and started snapping loudly. Contrasting greatly compared to the quiet sounds of groaning from the walkers.

The violent banging and popping of the fireworks set off the car alarm it sat on. The deafening alarm echoed between the city buildings attracting any walker that heard it.

A loud thundering of footsteps washed past skyscrapers and made their way towards the sounds of the alarm. In addition to the snapping firecrackers, the blaring car alarm, and the sound of fast approaching footsteps, came the screeching and yelling of a horde of walkers. Dozens upon dozens of walkers poured from the streets and alleys, sprinting to the car that yelled it's location.

Quarke and Subaru held their ground, shaking with fear at the thought of having that size of a horde on them. Thundering footsteps echoed past on the other side of the car they hid behind. Some even climbed onto the car and ran their way over it, but none of the walkers saw them, thankfully. Their desperate roars were disturbing and animalistic.

When the sound of footsteps stopped, Quarke and Subaru pecked through the car windows and saw the large mass of walkers crowding the car. The sound of shattering glass and bending metal sounded over the moaning of the walkers.

The sight made Subaru and Quarke want to forget about their mission and leave, but they needed the medication if they wanted to ensure making it to safety.

Beads of sweat ran down Quarke's forehead as he looked at the crowd. He gulped and turned to Subaru, "Now's the time. Come one, let's move."

With determination, Quarke bravely ran from behind the car, keeping low to the ground as he quickly made his way to the other side of the street. He had made it to the other side and hid behind a newspaper dispenser when he turned back around to see Subaru still behind the car.

Quarke looked back at the mass of walkers still distracted by the alarm. Using only hand motions, he motioned for Subaru to quickly follow.

From behind the car, Subaru witnessed Quarke edge him on, "Fuck my life…" he followed Quarke's example of running with bent knees. When he reached Quarke, he said, panting from the stress, "What now?"

Quarke pulled out his hammer, and said, sounding like he knew exactly what he was doing, "We stay out of sight and head down this street until we hit Seventh. At that corner should be a CVS."

Subaru nodded his head with understanding. "Right, right, and if that doesn't work we've still got Walgreens and Rite Aid."

Quarke gave a thumbs up as he looked around for any walkers. All of them should've been on the car. "That's right." He pulled out his sidearm from his pocket and unloaded the clip, "Make sure you've got it loaded. Don't wanna be in a situation without ammunition."

 _Good idea._

Subaru pulled the gun he had gotten from Rem out of his pocket. Unloading the clip, he checked the side of it, "I've got 8."

Quarke holstered his gun, "Same." Taking a deep breathe, he looked at Subaru with a nervous smile. "You ready?"

Subaru returned the smile uncertainly, "Ready when you are, Mr, Tenshi."

Chuckling, Quarke put a hand on Subaru's shoulder, "Remind me when you turn 21, I wanna be the one to give you your first beer." He rubbed Subaru's shoulder before pulling his hand away and standing up. "Let's go. Those meds aren't going to find themselves." He held a hand out.

* * *

Subaru nodded and took Quarke's hand. Getting pulled to his feet, he gave him a look of both excitement and fear. Holding a hand out, he said, "After you."

Thankfully, the car alarm went on for a while and attracted most of the walkers in the area. That made their plan much simpler.

Occasionally, they hid behind cars, trucks, trash cans, and anything else that would provide them with a place to hide from the eyes of the walkers.

Somewhere along the way, the two had just hidden behind the roof of an overturned truck when a walker stumbled out of the store in front of them. They didn't notice it at first, being occupied with checking on the walkers passing by in the street. The groaning of the walker was what caught each of their attention. They turned around, quickly raising their weapons. The crunching of gravel beneath their shoes caused the walker to jerk its head towards them. It was blind.

He walker began to slowly shuffle in their direction. Subaru was about to swing down onto the walker's head when Quarke put an arm on his chest to stop him. He looked at Subaru and shook his head while holding up a finger to his lips.

 _Stay quiet? That's what I'm doing!_

Subaru looked at him confused and gave his bat a light shake as of saying with no words that he was ready. As a reply, Quarke made a motion of swinging with the bat and made an explosion gesture with his hands. Afterwards, he held up his hammer and pointed to the claw, then put a finger to his lips again.

Then Subaru understood, if he hit the walker with the bat then it would make noise and attract any nearby walkers. However, if Quarke sunk the claw of the hammer into the walker's head, then it would be a silent kill.

Subaru nodded and backed off as Quarke held the hammer high in the air. The walker had stopped walking towards them so he dragged his foot again to get the walker's attention. When it was right in front of him, Quarke brought the hammer down and sunk the claw deep into the brain. Before the walker could fall to the floor, Quarke wrapped his arms around it and slowly laid it down onto the floor as if it were something delicate.

The impact of the hammer did emit a small cracking noise, but nothing loud enough to attract the walkers wandering the streets.

Quarke removed the claw from the walker's skull with a squelching noise. He looked at Subaru and gave a single nod while pointing towards the direction they were headed.

The further they got into town the more walkers appeared. When some would be on their side of the street they would duck into the nearest smashed window from an abandoned store. If it passed by without noticing them then they wouldn't risk doing anything that would make it look on their direction. However, if they did see them then Quarke would quickly finish it off with the hammer and pull the corpse into the building. Their fear was that if they let a walker roar upon noticing them then a whole lot more walkers would come finish them off before they could even come up with an escape plan.

Quarke had just removed his bloody hammer from a walker when Subaru asked how much farther the CVS was. Frankly, all the hiding was taking too long for Subaru comfort for the sun was falling more every time they had to escape the walkers. Subaru checked his watch.

 _6:46pm._

Quarke swung the hammer to let the blood fly from the head. "The pharmacy is at the next corner. So if all goes smoothly, we'll get there in 5 minutes."

Subaru groaned and said miserably, "Awwwwww, don't say that. Now something bad is gonna happen."

* * *

 **6:51pm**

Subaru turned to Quarke, both of which were standing in front of a CVS. "Whaddayaknow, something bad didn't happen."

Quarke said nothing and stepped forward, towards the building. The lights of the CVS were, not surprisingly, off. The automatic doors slid open when Quarke and Subaru came close to them.

Subaru stayed close to Quarke, keeping an eye on the back to make sure nothing snuck up on them. When Quarke went inside, he followed. As seen from the outside, the entire place was dark.

Quarke whispered to Subaru, "Lights."

On cue, Subaru dug into Quarke's backpack and pulled out two headlamps. Each slipped one on and turned it to the lowest brightness setting so as to stand out as little as possible.

Quarke shined his light across the floor littered with candy, papers, money, and various unimportant items. This place had obviously been ransacked already. "OK, the pharmacy section should be in the back."

Subaru nodded and started walking there. On the way there, he picked up the latest newspaper from the floor and read the title.

 **Chris Burden dies at 69: artist's light sculpture at LACMA is symbol of L.A.**

Subaru chuckled bitterly at the title. It just proved that no one saw the infection coming. It just happened and no one haf any clue of how. They were doomed from the very start.

"Hey, Subaru. You done browsing over there?"

Looking up from the paper, Subaru saw Quarke already at the back of the store and was climbing over a counter to get into the pharmacy area.

Dropping the paper, Subaru jogged over to where Quarke was and slide over the counter to get into the pharmacy. On the way, there was more proof of the store having been ransacked for the floor was littered with junk and many of the shelves were empty.

Quarke was already searching the various shelves for the Zanamivir. While he was shifting over other medication, he said to Subaru, "We're looking for a box, the Zanamivir inhaler itself should look oval-shaped and have a blue and white color to it."

Subaru showed the back of Quarke's head a thumbs up and began to search.

 _No, no, no, no, no. That's not it. Neither is that. Ooooo….nah._

He threw bottles and boxes, that he had already looked at, to the floor. The small rattling of pills in a bottle was the only thing that broke the silence of the pharmacy. It wasn't until Quarke found what they were looking for did he shout out, "Found it!" He held up a box, that was the size of his hand, triumphantly.

Subaru stopped throwing medication around and approached Quarke with a look of relief, "Thank god. I was hoping we wouldn't have to go further down the street."

Quarke bent down to retrieve more boxes, "Yeah, thanks for that. I don't know how many we'll need, but let's take as many as they've got here and figure out the rest later. All I know is that they're used to prevent and treat influenza so hopefully Ram will be right as rain soon." He opened up his backpack and put in 5 boxes.

Gesturing to Subaru to take off his backpack, Quarke said in a matter-a-fact tone, "I'm not carrying everything, you know."

As Quarke stuffed 4 more boxes into Subaru backpack, he strained his ears to listen for anything out of the ordinary. When nothing came up, he zipped the backpacks closed and handed Subaru his. "Alright, let's get moving. We shouldn't stay here anymore than we need to."

Subaru understood. Putting his backpack back on, he nodded and smiled, "Let's go home."

* * *

 **7:59pm**

Subaru stuffed the bat into the mouth of a walker just when it was about to roar and bring more onto him and Quarke. He ran the walker into the wall of the store and pinned it there. The walker began to claw at Subaru with rage, small gurgling coming from it's mouth. Without a second's hesitation, Quarke came in for the kill by shoving the hammer's claw into the head of the walker. Subaru kept the bat in the walker's mouth so he could let it gently fall to the floor.

As of now, they were almost at the end of the street, nearing the car that used to have it alarms on. Once again, they were pinned with the huge crowd of walkers shambling up front and walker behind them. They could back track and use a different street, but then they would have to use their headlamps to see, and that would attract walkers. However, if they somehow made it past the walkers ahead then they wouldn't have to worry about that.

Quarke walked out of the store's front door and stretched. In the area they were in, most of the walkers were still ahead of them, slowly dispersing from the car. With all the other abandoned cars and junk between them and the walkers, seeing them wouldn't be likely.

Subaru followed shortly after removing the bat from the walker's mouth and looked at the orange sky. That was when Quarke said, "Come on, we're burning daylight."

That was also when the car next to them cut through the deafening silence. There was the smashing of glass, and then the blaring alarm of the car.

Both men looked at the car in confusion and terror. Quarke looked at the once intact windshield, now it had a small, circular hole in it. He jerked around to Subaru and yelled over the loud siren, "It's been shot!"

I'm all the confusion, Subaru didn't hear him over the car's alarm. "What?!"

Pulling Subaru to the front of the car, Quarke pointed out the bullet hole, "It's been shot!"

Shot? So someone set it off on purpose?

That's the thought that ran through his head as the car continued to screech. Someone had shot the car and set off its alarm. But for what reason?

Quarke quickly looked at the bullet hole and determined its direction of origin by checking the glass it cut through. It was shot from above. He looked at the roofs of the buildings and the windows of an apartment building across the street, but nothing stood out. There was nothing showing itself, but it was definitely someone's doing.

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH!"

A single roar interrupted the car alarm. Followed immediately by more roars and cries of many walkers.

Quarke and Subaru looked in the direction they were heading towards, but it seemed they would need to find a new route.

The lone roar had come from a male walker that stood over a small group of smashed cars that had hit each other. It's red, angry, bloodshot eyes were resting on the two survivors. It's second roar was lost in the combined efforts from the other walkers that were attracted to the car alarm.

The lone walker jumped from the car and began running towards Quarke and Subaru. Right behind him, a wave of other walkers came pouring across the entire length of the street. The cars were lost under the continuous horde. Their eyes were all trained on the two unlucky survivors, eager to tear them apart.

Quarke pulled out his sidearm and grabbed the paralyzed Subaru by the front of his shirt. He screamed at him as he began tugging him in the opposite direction of the horde, "WE HAVE TO GO! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!"

Subaru got the message and began to move his feet. He did as Quarke had done and pulled out his gun. With a wave of walkers already chasing them, using a gun shouldn't cause any more of a problem.

Subaru ran as fast as he could alongside Quarke, wondering if this was how they were going to die. They would run until they either trapped themselves or the walkers caught up to them when they tired. Each one would mean a grisly painful death.

 _Fuck, we're dead._

The two men kept running and running, adrenaline rushing through their veins. Before they even made it to the end of the block, Quarke put an arm out to stop Subaru from running any further. Any walker ahead of them was now running at them, having heard the car alarm.

On either side, a wave of walkers were approaching fast. Quarke took aim, prepared to take out as many as he could before they took him out. His dying wish was for his daughters to survive this hell and find refuge somewhere safer. With that thought, he began firing his gun. One, two, three, four.

Subaru looked for anything they could use to hide or escape, but it was useless. The walkers knew where they were, hiding would only lead to death. He looked to the building next to them, hoping to find a solution. It was an apartment building. That's it!

Subaru could only hope that the walkers wouldn't be able to climb. _Please let this work!_

As Quarke kept firing at the incoming walkers, Subaru ran back to check the alley at the side of the apartment. All he saw was a dirty, dark alleyway with a chain link fence blocking it off halfway. This gave Subaru another idea, but that was soon shot down upon noticing barbed wire circling the top of the fence. _Damn it! Why is there not one on both sides?!_

It was their last chance to survive, and the walkers were getting closer. They were only about 100 feet from Quarke on each side when Subaru ran past him. He immediately stopped firing and reloaded his gun, yelling at Subaru with confusion, "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! DON'T RUN TOWARDS THEM!"

Subaru ignored him and continued to run to the end of the apartment building. He stopped and looked the alley separated he the the apartment from the other building. _There it is!_

Up against the apartment building was a red fire escape. A ladder lead from the ground floor all the way to a platform that was level with that floor's window, and a staircase went up on level to end onto another platform. That pattern reappeared until the very top of the building. This was their ticket out of there.

Without wasting another second, Subaru called out to Quarke to come to him.

With nothing else to lose, Quarke ran to him and saw what he was planning in the alleyway. He laughed happily, "Subaru you fucking genius!" He looked at the approaching horde, now only a mere 50 feet away. His eyes widened in terror as he pushed on Subaru's back, "Move, move, move!"

Subaru couldn't have understood any clearer and ran to the ladder. When he and Quarke reached it, the first wave of walkers had hit the alley's walls and were now sprinting towards them. Their collective roar of hunger and anger and the sheer size of the horde would make any man beg for mercy.

Subaru leapt onto the metal bars and quickly began climbing them as Quarke emptied his entire clip into the oncoming wave. The walkers in the front fell to the floor, each with a bullet in their head. Subaru made it to the platform when Quarke holstered his empty gun and began to climb.

A skinnier walker separated itself from the others by sprinting faster than any of them. Snapping it's jaws, the walker ran at the ladder and lunged at Quarke's legs. The walker's hands caught hold of one of his feet and began tugging on it.

The sudden jerk made Quarke almost lose his grip on the bars. He tried to kick at the walker's hands, but it wouldn't let go. He started to panic when the walker opened its mouth to bite his leg. He cocked back his other leg and kicked the walker in the face. Even this didn't stop it from tugging on him. The constant pulling and tugging prevented him from climbing any further. As he fending off the walker he cried in alarm, "Subaru!"

Subaru had already heard the commotion and was aiming his gun at the walker. He'd never really shot a gun before other than the ones in his previous loop so he didn't know how his aim was.

The horde came closer. And when they did, Quarke would be a goner. Subaru had to take the shot. Closing an eye, he looked down the small sight and aimed at the walker's head. He pulled the trigger, but the bullet soared over the walker and hit a trash bag.

Quarke continued to kick at the walker, trying to say as calmly as he could, "Breathe, Subaru! Take a deep breath!"

The walker heard Quarke and roared in anger, "RRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

 _Take a deep breath?_

Subaru thought it was the stereotypical advice people give in movies, but if Quarke, a cop, was advising it in real life then it must work. Taking a deep breath, he aimed lower at the walker's chest. Like before, the bullet soared higher than he aimed for and hit the walker in the collarbone. The force knocked the walker back a little and made it lose it's grip, but it came back and re-lunged at Quarke's foot.

One more chance. The other walkers were practically on Quarke. All they had to do was grab onto him and pull him down. Subaru had to save him from this and bring him home. Without even taking a deep breath, Subaru carefully aimed at the walker's neck and fired. The walker's head jerked back and it's hands fell from Quarke's foot. The body of the walker disappeared under the crowd of hunger crowd.

Quarke immediately climbed the ladder and threw himself onto the platform. Panting, he looked down through the holes in the platform and watched the walkers crowd around the ladder and reach up at him, as if hoping to grab him from down there. There so many of them that the walkers filled the entire alleyway and even flowed out into the street.

Quarke got to his feet and smiled at Subaru, graciously saying, "Thanks, Subaru. Without your quick thinking, I don't think we would have gotten out of that one alive."

Now over the previous rush, Subaru put his hands to his knees, "Yeah, whaddaya know, I did it."

"Hehehe, keep pulling miracles like that off and we'll survive this thing, no sweat."

Subaru leaned back and put his hands to his hips, "I guess….I guess I can be that guy." Little did Quarke know, Subaru was the type of person to know when danger was coming. But getting to know it came with a price of Subaru having to die first and remember it during his reset.

With that, the two men climbed the stairs and reached the top of the building. Tiny rocks crunched beneath their shoes as they walked to the opposite side of the building. From the top, they could see the roofs of the other buildings they were next to, but other than that the skyscrapers still rose four times higher as they were.

In the sky, the first few stars began to show themselves. It was getting late.

On the other side of the apartment building was the alleyway that Subaru had looked through earlier. The gap between the two roofs was wide, about 8 feet. Subaru looked at the ground fearfully, regretting his plan.

Quarke pulled out a walkie talkie that he had found in someone's house, the other one was at his house. He pressed a button and spoke into the device, "Rem?"

He waited until he heard her response, _"Yes, Father?"_

Over the moaning of countless walkers and Subaru's unhappy sigh of discomfort after looking into the chasm, he said nonchalantly, "We're gonna be a tad bit late."


	10. Zanamivir

**AN: Sorry about the long wait guys. I've been helping out soldado350 with redoing his first story. English is his second language so I've been rewriting them for him upon my own request, to which he agreed. So if you wanna, you can check out his first story in the english version. I've only gotten up to chapter 5 so far, so I'm not sure how much longer it'll take. But don't worry, I'll come back.**

 **Thanks to JDUBZ for helping me out again. Unlike Roger, I'm too young to drink beer so I'll owe J a lot of Capri Suns.**

Chapter 10: Zanamivir

* * *

 **May 11, 2015**

 **8:10pm**

Quarke removed his backpack and heaved it over the alleyway and onto the roof of the opposite building.

Subaru stood by, watching nervously, "We're really gonna jump that?"

Quarke smiled, "It is our only option, really." He pointed towards the sound of the moaning walkers, "We've got a mob of flesh eating monsters at the base of this building and no way off. The only option we have now is to move away from here while they're still distracted."

Subaru understood from the very beginning what they had to do. But, after seeing the jump they had to make, he would rather save himself from experiencing the sensation of falling 8 stories. Subaru closed his eyes and moaned out, "And we may find another fire escape on another building."

"It's our only way out of the city."

Subaru took a deep, long breath. He held it for a few seconds before giving in, "Fine. You go first."

Quarke's smile was still glued to his face, relieved that Subaru wasn't backing out of something that obviously terrified him. Without another word, he took a few steps back from the edge and stopped. After bouncing on his feet a few times, Quarke sprinted towards the chasm. He planted a foot on the very edge of the building and launched himself across, making it to the other side with a few inches to spare.

Quarke raised his arms up when he landed, "Yeah! This old man's still got it!" He turned to look at Subaru, who was still on the other side.

Subaru wasn't terrified, he was paranoid. Paranoid of falling to his death. This meant that he also wasn't scared but more of worried of what he had to do.

His backpack flew to the other side and he backed up so he could have a running start.

Quarke caught Subaru's backpack and set it gently onto the floor. Hopefully, the contents were still fine. He returned to the edge of the roof and gave Subaru an encouraging nod.

 _Welp, time to die._

Subaru broke into a sprint and started to have second thoughts the closer he got to the edge of the building. His mind went blank just as he launched himself over the edge. This affected his footing, making him come short of the other side by a few inches.

A short scream echoed throughout the alleyway, cut short by the sensation of being jerked.

The side of Subaru's face hit the alleyways brick wall, silencing his scream and replacing it with a shallow, "Ow."

Dazed and disoriented, he raised a hand and rubbed the side of his head that had met the wall. The sudden feeling of pressure on his other hand's wrist made him look up.

He saw his wrist being gripped by two large hands, and behind them was a face.

 _Mr. Tenshi…._

Quarke had dropped flat on the floor and reached for Subaru's hands as he fell. He managed to grab tightly onto his wrist and keep him from falling. However, Subaru had slammed into the side of the building and went limp. As he pulled him up slowly, Subaru started to realize what was going on and helped himself up too.

Reaching his other hand up, Subaru grabbed onto the edge of the roof and pulled himself up. With his and Quarke's combined efforts, he was able to get back onto the roof safely. Both of the men rolled onto their backs, staring up at the night sky. They breathed heavily until they started to calm down, listening to the unending sound of the walkers groaning.

They were safe for now.

* * *

 **8:14pm**

"Come on, we have to move."

Quarke held his hand out for Subaru to grab. He graciously accepted the gesture, as he was standing up he said, "Thanks for saving me." Both of them started to put their backpacks back on.

"Don't worry about it. I couldn't just let you die, now could I? In this world, we'll need as much help as we can get if we want to survive." Quarke put a hand on Subaru's back and smiled, "Besides, you're practically family. Any friend of my daughters is my friend as well."

Making a confused look, Subaru said, "That's an interesting way to put it."

"Well, it's kinda the only way I can put it. If my daughters find you worthy of their presence, then I find you worthy of mine. Hahaha." He started to walk to the other side of the building when he suddenly turned back around, "Unless you hurt my daughters, then you're dead to me."

Subaru didn't like the serious look of Quarke's face and nervously smiled, "Noted."

Quick as lightning, Quarke's smile returned to his face as he turned back to walk to the side.

The men didn't know what they were above, but they hoped it was another apartment building. If it was, then it would have a fire escape on the other side. Sure enough, when Subaru and Quarke peered over the edge of the building, a red ladder and stairs greeted them.

Chuckling, Quarke hopped down without using the ladder and landed on the escape's metal floor. A loud bang sounded, but it didn't attract any of the walkers that were on the other side. He adjusted the backpack straps on his shoulders and proceeded the climb down the stairs, looking towards the other side of the street for the person that wanted them dead. Subaru followed closely behind.

* * *

 **8:43pm**

The night's sky was filled with bright stars, shining down onto the two men who were making their way back to the house. It amazed Subaru just how many stars were visible. Usually, the bright city lights would cover up the stars and leave the night sky as an empty space of black. Now, with the city abandoned by people and the electrical plants shut down, the stars had returned to grace survivors with something beautiful to look at.

Their journey back home was uneventful, much to their relief. A lone walker patrolled the deserted backyard of a house that was in their path. This one was dealt with easily by Subaru and his trusty bat.

It wasn't long before Quarke retrieved the radio from the house and made it home with Subaru in tow.

When they entered the house through the back door, Quarke was slamming his palm into the side of the side of the radio. "Damn thing's running out of juice."

A garbled voice was spewing from the device. Quarke ended up opening the back of the radio and removing the batteries. He took a quick look at them before tossing them over his shoulder with a, "Hmph."

Upon entering the kitchen, Subaru went to the basement door and knocked three times with an addition fourth after a brief pause. The code that meant they were safe. It was a code that Subaru himself had made up considering that they couldn't trust everyone. The purpose of the code was to inform Rem, Ram, and Emilia that Subaru and Quarke were okay. If someone or something were to knock on the door incorrectly while the men were out, they were instructed to contact Quarke immediately and prepare themselves for anything.

A faint thumping sound came from the other side of the door along with a scrape. The door opened inwards to reveal Emilia. She instantly jumped at Subaru, hugging him with all her might.

Subaru's face went red as he felt her thin arms wrap around him and stuttered when he felt her press her face into him, "E-Emilia! Just asking, but what are you doing? Not that I don't like it or anything."

When Emilia removed herself from Subaru, he gave her a guilty smile.

Emilia blushed and moved her gaze to look at Subaru's arm, saying quietly, "It was getting really late, so I was worried."

Subaru shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what to say. It's nice to see you were worried about me anyway." Another smile, this time it was a happy one.

Emilia said nothing and continued to look anywhere but at Subaru's eyes.

Quarke broke the silence, "If you two are done flirting, can I ask how Ram is doing." Before Emilia could answer, he shimmied his way around her and walked towards a makeshift bed made up of thin blankets.

Emilia walked behind him, relaying what she had to tell, "Ram hasn't gotten better, but I also don't think she's gotten worse." She caught up to walk next to Quarke. "I gave her some of the pills you gave me and she seemed better."

Quarke reached Ram and bent down to feel her forehead. His eyes looked sadly at the sleeping angel before him. "She's still burning up, but I think it is lower than when we left." He picked up a bottle of Ibuprofen that stood next to Ram. "Of course, it's only temporary."

Emilia and Subaru looked at Ram in her pink sleeping gown. Around her mouth was a bandana that her father owned. She used it to hopefully reduce the chance of the flu spreading to the others. Emilia tugged to Quarke sleeve, "Did you get the medicine?"

The worry in Emilia's voice was genuine. Even though she didn't really know Ram that much, it still warmed Quarke's heart that she cared. He removed his backpack and tugged it open. "We got 9 inhalers total so that should last us 9 days. With these I think she'll be better within two days, but I got more just in case." He stared for a moment longer at a small hill of blankets rise and fall with Ram's breath. He snapped from his mild trance, "Well, I guess I should wash my hands and look for batteries in the house."

Emilia hopped on her toes, "I wish to come too. I need to use the bathroom."

"Okay, come on. I'll watch over the house so nothing gets in while you go." He looked around the room. "Where's Rem?"

Emilia pointed to a corner of the room where a sleeping rem slept sitting up against the wall with the walkie talkie in her hand. A blanket was laid onto her lap that Emilia had placed earlier when she first fell asleep.

Quarke nodded at the sight and removed one of the Zanamivirs, handing it to Subaru. Subaru looked at the box questionably, "Ummmm…"

"Make sure she takes two breaths of it. She can take the other two tomorrow morning."

"Huh?"

Quarke smiled, "You'll figure it out." He gestured for Emilia to follow him, with the radio in his hand, "Come on, sweetie."

When the two had left, Subaru looked at Ram and then at the box in his hand. _Ummmmmm. I guess I should read the instructions?_

He tore open the box and pulled out an oval shaped object that was half blue and half white. With it, was a circular, aluminum tray that had four grape sized bumps on it.

After a few minutes of reading the instructions on the box, Subaru pulled out the white tray inside that had a wheel in it that fit the silver tray that apparently was the medicine. He placed the medicine into the tray and put it back into the inhaler, closing it as he did so. Before moving on to the next step, Subaru lightly shook Ram awake.

Ram groaned as she slowly woke up. Rubbing the fogginess out of her eyes, Ram began to slowly focus on Subaru, wondering why he would possibly wake her from her 'beauty sleep'.

Upon seeing Subaru's supposedly stupid grin, Ram rolled her eyes and began to roll onto her side to avoid Subaru and go back to sleep.

Reaching to stop Ram by grabbing onto her arm, Subaru mockingly said with a voice that slightly irritated her, "Woah there. Not so fast, sleeping beauty. Doctor says you a routine check up and need to take ya' vitamins."

Ram turned back to glare at Subaru with her pink eyes before turning her head away again. Her voice was low and raspy, as if her throat was hurting, "Go away, Balse."

Subaru sighed at Ram's stubbornness, "Huhhh, I still don't know why you call me that."

"Hmph, and you never will." Ram lifted the blanket she had wrapped around her closer to her face so she could snuggle deeper into it.

"I don't have time for this, Ram. I need you to put this in your mouth." Subaru held out the Zanamivir's mouth piece towards Ram who wasn't looking at him.

Without even trying to figure out what he meant, Ram said with disgust, "I'm not putting anything in my mouth."

Taking a deep breath, Subaru continued, "OK, what I said sounded a tad bit wrong, but that's just your mind that's in the gutter." He shook the Zanamivir in his hand, causing it to make a light rattling noise. "I'm giving you medicine for christ's sake."

At this, Ram opened an eye and peered over her shoulder, noticing the object Subaru had in his hand. "That doesn't look like medicine, Barusu."

"Well, it is and it apparently helps stop and prevent the flu." Subaru said as he read the tiny label on the box.

Ram turned her body to face Subaru, "What is it called?"

Subaru brought the box closer to his face as if it would help him pronounce it, "Ah geez, let's see. Umm, zonamerver...zana-zanamirror...zanamiver. I don't know, Ram! It'll help so just take it." Subaru realized how stupid he must have looked with the box practically on his face and threw it to the side.

Holding out the mouthpiece of the inhaler towards Ram, Subaru didn't notice the amused smile that had formed on Ram's lips under the bandana as she watched him make a fool of himself.

Subaru stared at Ram as he held out the inhaler, "Now will you take it now that you somewhat know it's name?"

Under the mountain of blankets, Ram nodded.

"OK, good." He lightly shook the inhaler. "Here you go."

Ram only stared at Subaru, her eyes becoming half-lidded as if she were judging him.

Subaru into Ram's eyes, "What?"

The bandana shifted as Ram spoke, "You really expect me to do it myself under these conditions?"

"I expect you to get out of bed and take it yourself so I don't have to touch you and possibly get sick."

Ram sighed, "Fine, I propose an alternative." The mountain of blankets shifted as Ram moved a hand to grab the bottom of the bandana and reveal her mouth. She frowned at Subaru before slightly opening her mouth, pointed towards the ceiling.

Subaru got the idea, but pointed to the leveled inhaler said, "No can do, Ram. This has to stay level or else the medicine will leak out."

"Alright." Ram moved her head so she was now looking at Subaru's feet. She opened her mouth.

Subaru shook his head as he watched as the annoyed Ram turned her head, "Huhhh, stubborn as a demon."

Ram glared at Subaru, "What?!"

The sudden outburst almost made Subaru drop the inhaler, making it bounce from hand to hand before he was able to catch it. He looked back down at Ram's pink eyes that were irritated, "Nothing, nothing, just look away again."

Murmuring something, Ram looked back down at Subaru's feet. Subaru sat on the floor indian style and proceeded with the instructions. Lifting the white tab on the inhaler, Subaru heard a snapping sound and placed the tab back down. He said to Ram softly, "OK, now breathe out all the way."

Ram did as she was told. Next, Subaru kept the inhaler level as he told Ram to put the mouthpiece in her mouth and inhale as much as she could. Her lips wrapped around the white piece as looked at Subaru uncertainly. Ram inhaled a thin mist that surprised her and made her almost cough, but she stopped herself with puffed cheeks.

When she had inhaled as much as she could, Subaru instructed her to hold it for a few seconds. They repeated this process once more before Subaru put the object back into the box and placed the box into Quarke's backpack.

Finally done, Ram lifted the bandana to fit over her mouth again, "I don't like that, Barusu. You gave me a perverted look each time I took the medicine."

This was the norm. Between Subaru and Ram, Ram always made fun of Subaru in ways that made him look stupid or claim he was a pervert. Subaru would usually counter with something, to protect his pride. "Well then obviously you need to work on recognizing my expressions because I didn't look at you like that for even one second."

Subaru stared into Ram's emotionless eyes until she spoke, "You did it again."

"I did not!"

"Well, technically speaking, you always look at my sister with your perverted gaze so what's stopping you from giving her twin sister the same look?"

Subaru blushed and crossed his arms, "Well…...Rem has blue hair."

Ram nestled further into the blankets, "Hmmmm, so just because she has blue hair, you stare at her more often than me?"

Subaru looked smug, "Yes." then he realized what that entailed and stuttered, "W-Wait, that d-doesn't mean I stare at you guys! I-I'm not like that! Rem is just nicer to me is all!"

Ram's eyes never showed any emotion, "Do you wish for me to be nicer to you, Barusu?"

With that idea in his head, Subaru shrugged, "I mean….it would be better if you were."

Ram sighed, "Yeah, good luck with that."

Subaru turned to go wash his hands, "You're impossible."

"I think you mean 'beautiful'."

Smiling, Subaru said mockingly, "Whatever."

When he opened the basement door he heard Ram say quietly behind him, "Thank you, Subaru." but when he turned to look at her all he saw was the back of Ram's head as she fell asleep.

Scoffing, Subaru smiled and walked into the house. _Weirdo._

* * *

"What is the status of my daughter?"

"She's alive."

"And what of the boy?"

"Also alive. Our scout called in not too long ago claiming he saw them take refuge in a house the day after we released the subjects."

"Hmph, I wonder…."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Inform me about Betelgeuse."

"Some small advancements have been made in his studies so we can only assume he'll need more time."

"How incredulous. If he doesn't finish soon then we'd have started this for nothing."

"If I may, ma'am, with all due respect, the release wasn't the best option. If we'd have waited longer then I believe we could have made further strides by making allies with the Germans and possibly the Japanese. I'm sure their technological advances would have helped in finishing the product."

"And why are you tell me this?"

"S-Simply to inform of the consequences this error may have in the future. Alone, Dr. Romanee can only do so little at a time. It definitely didn't help with the fact that you sent him out all those years to 'gather data'. The request to send out the subjects was absolutely absur-."

 _BANG!_

 _Thump._

"I will do what must be done, no matter the cost. Now….let's see if we can get some results."

 _Beep,_ kkkkrrrrrrrr _._

 _"Yes?"_

"You may advance. I expect some progress."

 _"Hehe….with pleasure."_


	11. Her Cold, Dead Smile

**AN: Thanks to JDUBZ for the usual awesome Beta Reader editing he does to be awesome**

 **Chapter 11: Her Cold, Dead Smile**

* * *

 **May 15, 2015**

 **10:12am**

Huddled around the radio, the five survivors listened carefully as a broadcast stated that almost all Safe Zones were either decommissioned due to infection or completely over run by the infected. Some, however, stayed.

" _I repeat, Safe Zone Elko, Nevada is free from infection. Any and all uninfected survivors are advised to make their way there immediately. Food, water, and shelter will be given to any that make it. Thank you and good luck."_

It was official. The closest Safe Zone was in Nevada. With most of the western states infected and crawling with walkers, the only hope anybody had was going there and making it to safety in the north eastern states. This was something Quarke knew was the only chance he had to save the ones he loved.

"We have to go as soon as possible." Quarke turned off the radio they had been listening to and walked to the other side of the basement.

Ram, who was now cured of the flu, nodded and went to follow her father. Behind her, Rem tagged along.

Subaru looked at Emilia and smiled as she gave him a nervous look, not liking the idea of leaving the house. But this had been the plan for the last week. Quarke and Subaru had already prepared the group for a long road trip by funneling gas from cars and scavenging for canned food in various houses. Luckily, just yesterday Subaru was able to find a house that belonged to one of his classmates down the road. That was where he was able to find clothing that fit Emilia and even took some of the father's clothes too that were just a tad bit too large. Quarke found clothes for Rem, Ram, and himself in a few other houses. They were all set and ready to go at a moment's notice.

Subaru and Emilia approached the family of three and began packing up. As Emilia started to place her clothes into a suitcase, Quarke called out to her and Subaru, "Don't worry you two, we've got it from here. Just go pack up the car, we'll be there after we finish up."

Looking at each other for a second, Subaru and Emilia nodded and thanked Quarke before moving to exit the basement.

After checking if the coast was clear, Subaru walked out of the house to go to the garage, Emilia right behind him.

She looked in every direction, scanning every inch of anything she saw because she was scared. Never in her life had she been so scared to go outside into the sun. If the walkers were everywhere, then who wasn't to say they weren't behind every house she saw, waiting for the right moment to charge.

However, the feeling of fear disappeared when she felt Subaru grasp onto her hand. She looked away from the street and to Subaru's reassuring eyes. The worry she once felt melted away. Subaru would protect her.

With the bat in one hand and Emilia's hand in the other, Subaru walked at a fast pace to the garage. He placed the bat on the floor and released Emilia's warm hand. Bending down, he curled his fingers under the garage door and pulled up slowly.

The resulting squeaks from the rusty wheels scraping against rusty bars made Emilia look around the street, alarmed. She was worried the noise might attract any unwanted visitors.

"Subaru…."

"I know. I know."

The squeals of the garage door resonated throughout the dead silent street. So when Subaru finished, he retrieved his bat and turned, half expecting walkers to shamble out of their houses.

Thankfully, none came.

Relief. That's how Subaru would've described the feeling. However, when he turned, the relief he felt was replaced by unamusement.

Sitting in the garage was the spacious and reliable, red 2014 Subaru Forester that the Tenshi family drove. The name brand didn't sit too well with him because he was pretty sure Rem had persuaded her father to buy it for the sole reason of its name being his.

Subaru could still remember the time the family had came by his house to pick him up to go to Big Bear and he had dropped his luggage upon noticing the name. Rem had looked so happy in the passenger seat when she saw Subaru's mouth drop at the sight. He almost went back inside but stopped when he saw his parents looking at him from the doorway, urging him to go on.

And now here he was again, about to go on a 10 hour drive in a car that he hated.

From behind Subaru, Emilia quietly giggled when she noticed Subaru glaring at the car.

"Do you like it, Subaru?"

Human Subaru looked back at Emilia with a look of annoyance.

"It's a car…. I don't have to like or hate it. I just…." he looked back at the car with mock anger, "...wish it weren't a Subaru."

Emilia giggled and walked past Subaru, patting him on the head, "Silly, it's just a car."

"Hmph, well it's mocking me."

"You're just being stubborn."

Subaru clutched his belly. "Ha! Right! _I'm_ the stubborn one and not Ram!"

Emilia turned back around and pointed at Subaru while she opened the car's trunk. She spoke with delight at their sudden light hearted banter, "I didn't say that! You're just being difficult because the car's name is your own. It's not like it's really you, you know?"

"Well I know that much. I just still don't like the fact that they have one."

Emilia sighed while leaning on the car, "Then I don't know what to tell you, Subaru."

"I don't either."

With that, Subaru made his way to the back of the garage and placed multiple cases of water into the back and then grabbed two gascans, that were filled up, and placed them in the back as well.

As he went to get the last gascan, Emilia placed a large box of canned food into the car with a can opener. Setting the gas next to the others, Subaru noticed Emilia holding a can of peaches, her father's favorite fruit.

A tear fell onto the paper wrapping and soaked into it. Bittersweet memories of her father rushed into her head. His short, blonde hair, skinny stature, and massive intellect is what she remembered fondly of him. While he was on business trips to New York every month, when he was home he would make sure Emilia was happy. He would return home with a hug from Emilia the second he stepped through the door frame.

He always spoke so warmly and calmly, as if Emilia was all that mattered to him.

" _How'd you do while I was gone?"_

" _I was alright."_

" _No boys came over right?"_

" _Well, Subaru came over…"_

" _Hmmmm….."_

" _I'm sorry, daddy."_

" _Awww, I can't stay angry with you. Subaru's a good kid so I trust him around you."_

Then he would surprise her with gifts and knickknacks from the other side of the country. Whatever they were, Emilia treasured and kept in her room. From bobbleheads to postcards, it didn't matter. If it came from her father then it had a place in her room.

While Emilia loved her caring father almost to death, she couldn't say the same about her mother. In fact, she never met her mother. According to her father, her mother had died in a car accident that he had caused only a few days after Emilia was born.

With 17 years to mourn and regret, her father would claim to have gotten over it and passed on, but Emilia would sometimes catch him staring off into space. While she never knew if he really was thinking of his wife, whatever he was thinking about always brought a small smile to his face.

Now he was gone, somewhere across the country with no way of getting to her.

"Emilia…"

Dropping the can into the box, Emilia turned away from Subaru to wipe her eyes. Her voice was weak and started to break as she spoke, "W-What is it?"

Subaru put a hand in Emilia's shoulder, letting her know that he was there for her.

"We'll find him. We'll find your dad and my parents. Then when we'll stay safe, live somewhere where the walkers can't get us."

Emilia started to sob and shook her head, the world was too burnt, too decrepit for her to believe that everything would return to normal.

"N-No. Please don't say things like t-that, Subaru. Y-You can't promise me things that you can't be sure about!" She turned around to show Subaru her eyes that were bloodshot from crying, "Don't lie to me, Subaru. We'll never be safe!"

"Don't say that. I promise I'll protect you, Emilia. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets, I will be there for you." He steps closer to Emilia, who continued to cry. "I will keep you out of the way of danger, even if it means that I'll die in the process. Just seeing you here has made me the happiest man on Earth." He was inches from Emilia. "I know it doesn't mean much now, but when it comes to it, I would lay my life on the line for you, just to see you smile once again."

Emilia shook her head. She didn't want Subaru to die just for her. To her, she was just a girl who couldn't protect herself and was probably better off left on the side of the road.

"Subaru…"

"I want to help you find your father. I want to see you with him again and smile like you'd never smiled before. That's my one wish, a smile bright enough to bathe this whole world in its lights and banish any unforgiving darkness out of existence. The world may have ended and given up, but I haven't. I want to survive and live a life in different world than the one we grew up in. I wouldn't care if it was just you and me because then I would know you would be by my side the whole time."

Subaru put both his hands on Emilia's shoulders, keeping her close. She stared into his eyes, stuttering.

"I-I…"

"So smile. Make my day, Emilia, and give this helpless boy something to look forward to everyday until the end."

Emilia didn't smile, but she was filled with happiness and gratitude at Subaru's words. In the next instant, she was hugging Subaru tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder as more tears fell from her eyes and streamed down onto Subaru.

The air stayed still as the vibrations of Emilia's sobs echoed in the tiny garage, amplifying it ever so slightly. Subaru closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling Emilia's body shake with each sob. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her heartbeat. It was fast. She was scared.

Doing his best to comfort her, Subaru started stroking Emilia's hair, starting from the top of her head and down.

"Shhhhhh…. it's gonna be okay, Emilia."

Whispering into her ear, Subaru could feel her heartbeat slow down. By this time, Emilia had stopped crying. This made him happy inside. The hand that had been stroking her hair was now doing the same to her back. He could feel her smooth back beneath the white KISS t-shirt and it made him blush. At one point he went too far south and made Emilia shiver from the contact on her lower back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Subaru panicked and back away from Emilia, apologizing for getting distracted.

Blushing as well, Emilia held her arms together and looked towards the back of the garage, "No, it's...um...it's OK. Just….um….don't do it again, OK?"

Nodding, Subaru used a finger to draw an 'x' over his heart. "I promise."

Emilia saw the gesture out of the corner of her eye and smiled warmly.

A feeling of accomplishment overwhelmed Subaru, "Yes! Now that's what I call a smile! Do that everyday, Emilia, and you've got the luckiest boy in the world on your hands!"

At first, the smile just widened, but in a matter of seconds the smile turned into a laugh. The beautiful echoes for her cheerful song entered into Subaru's brain and implanted itself there as one of his fondest memories. Even when the world was ending and people were dying, a single girl's smile and laugh could bring light to even the darkest of times.

"Hehehe hahahahaha HAHA!"

When Emilia stopped, she looked at Subaru again with the smile still on her face. Her voice was low still, but happier.

"Thank you, Subaru."

Happiness, that's what resonated throughout the room the entire time Subaru swam in the purple pools that were Emilia's beautiful eyes. It wasn't until something plowed into Emilia did that happiness disappear, replaced by anguish and fear.

Before Subaru could do anything, the walker had already bitten into Emilia's fleshy neck and taken a good chunk out, sealing her fate. The resulting scream ripped any happiness Subaru had in him a second ago. He was unable to move, only staring as the ugly, bloodstained walker ate at the woman he'd _just_ promised to protect with his life.

When Subaru found his voice, it was an explosion of emotion, "NOOOO!"

The wasn't in his hands, but that didn't matter to Subaru. Emilia was on her back with the walker on her neck when Subaru came up and tore the walker off of her.

"NO!"

Subaru pounced on the walker and straddled it. The walker was male with clear eyes, clear, bloodshot, hungry eyes.

Subaru felt no fear, he allowed the walker to grab him, but he wouldn't allow him to bite. Holding the walker's head between his hands, Subaru lifted it off the ground and slammed it into the concrete floor.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

With each of his own screams, Subaru slammed the walker's head onto the floor until a bloody mess spilled out from its gaping head wound.

"FUCKING BASTARD!"

Throwing the bloodied mess to the side, Subaru fell to his own side and cried. It wasn't until he heard short, sudden breathes coming from Emilia did he get back up. Her mouth was open as she struggled to breathe, she settled on gasping for air.

"HUUUHH!... S-Subaru… Huuhhh!"

Blood gushed from her neck, creating a pool around her head.

Subaru's tears fell in mass as he tore off his shirt and pressed it into her neck.

 _This isn't happening! Please, no! Not again! I can't do this again! I don't wanna die!_

Blood soaked through his shirt until he was holding a soaking wet rag that smelled like metal. Emilia's skin was cold when Quarke, Rem, and Ram rushed into the garage with their luggage in their arms. Their eyes widened at the horrific scene before them.

Subaru didn't notice them and threw the shirt to the side, making a _splat_ when it hit the cold floor. He proceeded to press his hands into her neck, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Emilia was no longer screaming, but groaning in pain when Subaru would apply pressure to her wounded neck.

Quarke quickly dropped everything he had and ran to Emilia's side, not caring that he kneeled in her blood. His voice was worried and quick, "What happened?"

Subaru couldn't answer. His emotions were out of control, he wanted to cry, yell, rage, everything. Everything in his life had been torn from his life at some point and now something else was going to leave him in front of his eyes. All he had to do was keep her safe, but he failed even that.

Quarke pulled Subaru's hands away from Emilia and saw the gushing wound. Subaru immediately replaced his hands back.,

"She's bit! Subaru, what does that mean?!"

Subaru only shook his head violently as he knew what that meant.

"Subaru! She's infected isn't she?!"

Again, no answer. Subaru only made a noise that was between a scream and a gasp for air.

Everything went quiet as the roar of dozens of walkers struck the air. Their yelling had attracted a horde, and it sounded close.

Quarke turned his head quickly to his daughter who were standing by. Rem was worried, wanting to be by Subaru's side. Ram was trying to keep calm but her twisted face gave away the fact that she was terrified.

"Girls, pack up the car! We have to go!"

The roaring grew closer. Too close for comfort.

The light in Emilia's eyes started to dim as her body started to stop being so tense. The pain in her face lessened every second the closer she got to bleeding out. She focused her dim eyes in Subaru. Her voice was feeble and so quiet that Quarke and Subaru barely heard it.

"Su…..baru…."

Subaru eyes wouldn't stop pouring tears. Hatred for the world consumed him. His voice was full of sorrow as he looked at the dying girl, "I'm right here, Emilia. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I failed to protect you, I'm sorry."

Emilia's weak arm reached up and touched his cheek, leaving a short streak of her blood, "It….oh...kay…"

Subaru couldn't help but look at her with anger, not directed at her but at the world, "No, it's not OK! None of this is OK! I don't want to lose you! I've come too far to just let you die!"

Emilia simply smiled up at Subaru's heart broken face. It didn't bring happiness to her that she was dying. She was just happy to die and have someone who cared about be by her side. Then, the hand the was in his cheek feel slowly down as Emilia's eyes dulled and were extinguished of any light. Emilia died happy and with a smile on her face.

Quarke stared sadly at Emilia, his confidence gone. He didn't want to say it, but the horde was getting closer. He looked at Subaru sorrowfully.

"Subaru…..we have to move."

 _Like hell I am._

Subaru shook his head, his voice hoarse, "No."

"You don't have a choice, Subaru. Please…..we have to go."

Subaru glared at Quarke, "I'm not leaving….. Just go."

Quarke looked at Subaru in disbelief.

"What?"

Through anguished tears, Subaru screamed at Quarke, "JUST GO! LEAVE ME!"

Quarke angrily grabbed Subaru by his shirt, "That's not happening! You are coming with us! Emilia is dead, there's nothing you can do about it!"

Deep down, Subaru knew there was but didn't want to say.

From behind Subaru, Rem spoke up. He couldn't see her, but he could hear the fear and sadness in her voice.

"Subaru-kun? Please don't stay. You'll die."

Her voice alone calmed him down, but it didn't help with his mental state. He knew that he was going to have to die if he wanted to save Emilia, but he couldn't do it here. Not in front of everyone else.

Subaru made a bargain, speaking with a broken voice.

"I'll meet you guys."

Quarke was the one to question him.

"What?"

"I'll meet you guys at the edge of town. I know what direction we need to go so I'll meet you there. When you leave, you'll take the walkers away from me so I have time. I just…. I just have to say good bye."

Rem spoke up, "Rem will stay too."

"No!" Subaru looked at Rem, his face full of determination. "You go, so in case I screw up I don't have to watch someone else I love die."

"But-."

Anger. "No but's! Just please do as I say and go with your dad!"

Rem shrunk in defeat at the first sign of anger in Subaru's voice, "OK."

The horde was practically down the street, their roar was shaking the house.

Quarke let go of Subaru and looked at him with annoyance, "We don't have much time to argue. I trust you know what you're doing."

Subaru faked a smile, "Always."

Quarke pulled his gun from his back pocket and handed it to Subaru, "Only for emergencies."

Nodding, Subaru held the gun tightly in his hand. He was the only one who knew what he was going to do with it.

"We'll see you later, Subaru."

Quarke patted Subaru on the shoulder before beckoning his daughter to get into the car.

Quarke turned the car on and revved the engine. Putting the pedal to the metal, he sent the car flying out of the driveway and into the street. Subaru closed the garage door and heard the wave of walkers rush past to chase the car, ignoring the garage in which Subaru was sheltered in.

From behind him, the indistinguishable sound of a walker sounded in the small space. Slowly, Subaru looked behind him to see Emilia get up onto her feet. She, or _it_ , slipped on it's own blood and almost fell to the floor.

"Raaaawwwwwgghhhh."

The groaning coming from it brought chills down Subaru's spine.

 _ **What is happening?**_

Subaru bent down and grabbed his metal bat. The now dull surface scraped the ground, making a sound.

The walker that was Emilia heard the noise and glared at Subaru.

 _ **I can't move.**_

The sight of a pale skinned, bloodshot, and raging Emilia made him sick. He didn't want to kill her, but he had to. One less walker in this damned world.

Emilia ran at Subaru, but slipped on her own blood and fell to the floor in front of him.

 _ **Please, what are you doing?**_

She grabbed into his leg and extended her jaws open. Subaru jerked his foot from her grasp. The look of anguish and extreme emotional pain was permanently plastered on his face as he rose the bat high into the air. Words could not describe just how horrible he felt, as he was about to kill the woman he loved.

He swung the bat down hard.

 _ **Subaru.**_

And ended Emilia's suffering.

Subaru emptied his tear ducts onto Emilia's dead, cold body, holding her close to him. He held her hand, the same one he held earlier that had been so warm and so soft. Now, it was stone cold and harder than it should've been.

Emilia was dead, Rem was safe, Ram was safe, and Quarke was safe. He didn't feel guilty for what he wanted to do next. With Emilia's hand in one, Subaru held up his other that held the gun. The black surface of the matted gun had a speck of blood on it. Using his thumb, Subaru wiped it off.

* * *

 **8:46pm**

Rem stared back at the city buildings, wondering when Subaru would return like he promised.

Ram approached from behind, "Rem, I don't think he's coming." Her voice was full of mourning. She knew Subaru was gone for good.

Rem shook her head and spoke while her voice slightly broke, "No. Subaru-kun is strong. I believe he'll make it here. We just….we just have to wait a little bit longer."

Ram nodded, despite being against the idea, and walked back towards the car where she could see her father smoking away his stress.

"Subaru-kun, please come back."

* * *

 **May 15, 2015**

 **8:37am**

His skull now mended from the bullet, Subaru woke up, back to the beginning of the day everything went wrong. Turning in his makeshift bed, he saw Emilia, wide awake in her own bed next to Rem and Ram. She was sitting up with a hand to her chest.

 _She's awake._

This was different, when he woke up last time, Emilia had been asleep. He checked his watch to know what time it was, but realized he had nothing to base his theory of whether or not he woke up at the same time since he never checked the time before. Maybe he had woken up later than before and Emilia had just woken up with him. But that didn't matter, Emilia was safe and alive.

Subaru watched Emilia look at her surroundings, he studied her with grief at the thought of her corpse that he himself had created. He wasn't going to let that happen again. He was going to do whatever he could to keep her safe and sound. He'd already said it and thought it multiple times, but if the time ever came to lay his life on the line for Emilia, he would do it without thinking twice.

As he stared at Emilia, her eyes suddenly met his. Her eyes slightly widened when she saw him, but he didn't keep looking. Instead of staring, Subaru quickly looked at the ceiling and whistled quietly. A blush crept across his cheeks because he could still see Emilia staring at him from the corner of his eye. It wasn't until a minute later did Emilia laid back down onto her bed and went to sleep.

Subaru waited until he heard Emilia's soft snoring to get out of his bed and head to the restroom upstairs. So far, other than the interaction with Emilia, everything had gone exactly like it had when he had woken up the first time. He needed to use the restroom and when he would return Emilia would be up, along with Quarke.

However, when he returned, only Quarke was up.

 _He'll wake them up._

Like he remembered, Quarke went over the Rem and Ram and nudged them awake playfully with his foot. Then Ram would groan.

"Uhhhhh…. Father, 5 more minutes."

Then Rem.

"Nee-sama, I'm tired still."

"It's OK, Rem, Come here."

Ram opened up her arms and allowed Rem to cuddle between them. A lovely sister bonding moment that Subaru remembered all too well because he almost had a nosebleed last time from looking at it.

Speaking of which, Subaru's nose started to bleed.

 _Ah, crap._

Everything was going smoothly. The only difference was Emilia, who still slept. Subaru tried to approach her, but by that time Ram had woken up finally and told him to stop.

"Let a woman sleep, Balse. Geez, you have no manners do you?"

 _This is new._

Subaru had never had this conversation before with Ram. It weirded him out that he springing onto a totally different now. He wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't change future events. If anything changed then he wouldn't have the talk with Emilia again and save her life later when the walker came in.

 _Fuck it._

"I'll have you know, Ram, that I am the _most_ polite gentleman you'll meet on this street."

Ram rolled her eyes as per usual when talking to Subaru.

"Is it because everyone else on the street is gone?"

"That's a bit of a morbid way to put it, but yes."

"Huuuuuuuhhhhh… Idiot Barusu." Ram walked away.

"Again, didn't ask for the comment."

Ram said nothing. Instead, she mocked him by making it look like her hand was opening and closing it's mouth.

 _Oh, wanna play_ that _game then?_

In a low whisper that Ram barely heard, Subaru said, "Stubborn demon."

Eyes lit with fiery rage, Ram glared at Subaru who then turned the other way and retreated to safety behind Quarke.

* * *

 **10:12am**

" _I repeat, Safe Zone Elko, Nevada is free from infection. Any and all uninfected survivors are advised to make their way there immediately. Food, water…."_

After the broadcast, Subaru and Emilia did as they were told by Quarke and went to go pack the car. The whole time, Subaru was glancing at Emilia, wondering why she was acting different than before. Even Ram, he had that conversation with her that he never did before. Everything changed, and it all started because of Emilia. When he had asked Emilia if she was alright, she had simply replied with a quick nod.

When they had gone outside to open the garage door, Subaru noticed Emilia looking around more than she had in his previous loop. Almost like she was looking for something and not just watching out for walkers. This was too different.

 _Was it something I did? Why is she acting like this?_

What made matters worse for Subaru was when they packed up the car. Subaru had finished putting in the gascans and water when Emilia had just thrown the box of cans into the car. She never looked at the cans or even looked at Subaru. The whole time she kept to herself. They stood there for a few minutes, neither talking to one another.

Subaru was just about to start a conversation with her when Quarke and the twins came around the corner with the luggage.

 _The walker never came._

It was an important event from his last loop that caused it to end, but now it ceased to exist. The whole reason Subaru was back in this moment of time was gone, it wasn't right. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't think of how i could've changed so drastically.

"Come on! Get in the car!"

Quarke and the twins were already waiting inside the Subaru for Subaru and Emilia.

Still confused, Subaru stepped into the passenger seat while Emilia sat behind him in the back with Rem and Ram.

Quarke sighed with happiness, "Finally! You guys ready for to see civilization?!"

Rem smiled, "Yes!"

Ram sighed, "I guess.'"

Emilia didn't say or do anything.

Subaru smiled and nodded.

Rem, who was seated next to Emilia, poked her in the cheek lightly. The contact surprisingly startled Emilia.

"Are you OK, Emilia?"

Emilia nodded to Rem's question, remembering that Subaru had asked her that same question before not too long ago.

Quarke put the car in 'Drive' and sped out of the garage. They sped past houses and many, many walkers. The dead tried to run at them but were left in the dust.

Looking into the side-view mirror, Subaru noticed that Emilia looked much more relaxed. As if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Not long after, the car sped onto the 101 freeway, passing up countless cars that were abandoned and/or tossed over. Some were on fire, some were just shells of what they used to be. Scavengers must have stripped the cars for parts to use. Seeing this, Subaru realized just how little hope there was for this rotting world to return to normal.

* * *

 **GDL GVHG HFYQVXGH, GDL IVGFIM YB WVZGSH.**


	12. Solar Powered Savior

**AN: I'm back! Sorry about the sudden absence, guys and/or gals. Some things got in the way and made me lose any motivation I had to write because I just couldn't bring myself to write creatively. And just when I got over it I got a job. XP**

 **So now my updates will take longer. Like maybe a week between updates. Anyway, I did start a new story that's a crossover with RWBY so that kinda stalled this chapter a bit. I'll try to have Chapter 12 done by tomorrow. I'm almost done with it.**

 **As always, Thanks to JDUBZ for his help on this chapter when it was in it's progress two months ago.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 12: Solar Powered Savior

* * *

"Emilia, are you feeling alright? You've been acting strange all day. If it's something I did, please tell me."

"It's nothing…..Subaru."

"Is it about your dad?"

"Part of it, yes. But….there's something else."

"What is it?"

"..."

"Emilia…?"

"...I'm sorry, Subaru, but there's too much going on."

"E-Emilia-."

"No, Subaru! Please, I can't do this right now! I-I just need some space."

"..."

"..."

"Just know, I'm here for you, Emilia."

"...You always are."

* * *

 **May 15, 2015**

 **3:56pm**

Huffing, Subaru stared out the windshield as he spoke, "You know…..you could've helped."

Apparently, filling up a car with gas in the middle of nowhere, under the hot sun was hard work. Sweat was already soaking Subaru's shirt and dripping off his chin.

The sweet relief of the air conditioned car brought comfort to Subaru.

As Quark entered the car, Ram said in a matter-of-fact tone, "And where would the fun be in that, Barusu?"

Subaru turned in his seat and growled at Ram, "Nowhere! Nothing was fun about that!"

"Hmph, then I imagine it wouldn't be so hard for you to see _why_ I didn't help someone like you."

Quark chuckled, "Hehe. You know, she gets that snarky attitude from her mother. Although, inside, Ram is as sweet as they come." He put the keys back into the ignition.

Subaru looked at the agitated Ram, "Hard to believe."

In response, Ram crossed her arms, "I have you know that I can be nice whenever I want to." She glared at Subaru, " _You_ just haven't earned to see that side of me."

Off to the side, Rem smiled and nonchalantly said, "Nee-sama is the greatest."

Subaru smiled smugly, "So tell me, Ram, what do I have to do to see that nice side of yours?"

"Sarcasm doesn't help, Balse."

"It doesn't, but it sure as hell pisses you off."

Frowning, Ram slowly clapped her hands, "Congratulations, Balse. That's the first thing you've said all week that isn't stupid."

The proud posture that Subaru began to build up quickly fell, "Wait….is that a compliment?"

Hoping to stop Ram's savagery, Quark quickly said, "Alright, you guys ready?"

Everyone voiced their own agreements.

"Alrighty then. How about you, Subaru. You ready?"

Raising an eyebrow, Subaru looked at Quark with confusion.

"Um, yeah. Didn't you just ask me that?"

"Oh. Haha! I wasn't talking to you." Quark smiled and rubbed the dashboard of the car, making human Subaru grumble.

Rem, however, found it entertaining and rubbed the seat belt that was wrapped around her waist, a small blush on her small face, "Isn't Subaru just wonderful?"

Ram smiled at her sister's joy, "Yes, this Subaru is a lot better and more reliable than another one I know."

Scoffing, Subaru looked back at Ram, "You better be talking about another car and not me."

Smiling innocently, Ram shrugged her shoulders. Subaru looked back to the front as Quark turned on the car and drove back onto the road.

Only a few hours were left. Driving in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do was starting to take a toll on all the occupants of the car.

Ram pulled out magazines from the pocket behind the driver's seat and started reading them. They brought no joy to her to read about what celebrities were doing what in their lives. She could care less about what they had to say, it just gave her something to do. Both before and after the whole world went to shit.

Rem was sitting between Emilia and Ram, humming quietly to herself as she watched her sister read. She eventually pulled out her phone, which was dead, and just played with it in her hands.

With no electricity, each and everyone's phones died. It had already been days since each had even sent a text or placed a call. During what little time Subaru had left with his phone he called his parents over and over again, each attempt failed.

Subaru took to staring out the window with his cheek against the glass, once in awhile he would look in the side mirror and look at Emilia.

Emilia had slept most of the journey up until now. Her eyes were open and staring at her hands on her lap. She barely said anything the whole trip. The only times she spoke was when they had taken a break before entering Nevada and when Subaru tried to talk to her on the side.

He could tell that something was wrong, and it wasn't about their hell on Earth.

* * *

 **7:38pm**

The sun had fallen, leaving the sky dotted with stars that shined brightly down upon the Earth. Behind their car, an innumerable amount of walkers were chasing them out of town. Their hungry roars pierced through the car windows, turning it's occupants white with fear. The only thing they feared most than being chased by the walkers was the very small possibility of the car stalling and breaking down. Like said, the chance was unlikely but still possible. However, the Subaru pushed forward, refusing to give up to the horde.

Ahead of them, a reflective sign thanked them for visiting the city of Battle Mountain. Written in some black material was the phrase 'Population: 0'.

Quark's knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel extremely hard. Thankfully, the sounds of the walkers slowly died out until they were just a whisper over the sound of the car engine. The grip he had on the wheel lessened while Ram opened her window, gladly letting in fresh air.

The color returned to her face, coloring her cheeks pink with blood that flowed beneath her skin at a rapid pace. No one spoke or made any comments. The sweet silence between them brought just a little comfort to Ram. Why it calmed her nerves may have been because of her short tolerance for people. But nowadays she had gotten better at it. She had survived a 9 hour drive with Subaru so she could say that it was milestone for her.

Looking to her right, Rem was still clutching her arm, hoping she would protect her. Complying, Ram reached across and held onto her dear sister. If the area was so disastrous here then what would Elko be like?

Everyone's thoughts were the same as they passed the occasional walker that watched as they zoomed by, their bloody teeth longing for flesh to pierce and consume.

Hopefully, strong defensive measures were still being met to preserve the safety of Elko, Nevada.

 _Hopefully._

* * *

 **8:02pm**

They concluded that they were one of the lucky ones.

Quark stared out of the car window and surveyed the disaster from a distance. The small city of Elko was completely destroyed, with walkers shuffling around each corner. The hopeless scene of overturned cars and blood soaked dirt broke Quark inside.

Somewhere within the city, a man's scream could be heard. There was one last yelp before his cries for help were silenced by a source they could not see. But they could've made a lucky guess.

A feeling of hopelessness washed over him as he put his face in his hands, "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!"

The feeling of despair shifted towards anger at the world. With each word, he slammed the steering wheel with his hands, "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! FUCK!"

Clearly, the world was against them. It may have granted them the ability to live this long, but Quark was starting to wonder if it wasn't salvation, but torture. Instead of being allowed to die and escape this madness, he had two daughters to protect that he couldn't just let die in this god forsaken world. With them, they would apparently have to suffer and hop around the country looking for safe places to live. That wasn't the life he wanted them to have.

He had to make sure they made it to safety. It was the last promise he made to her. To love and cherish them, no matter what.

Both Rem and Ram reached forward and wrapped their arms around their father, calling to him, "Father!"

Their cries nearly brought Quark back to his senses but he was still unsure of what to do. Their options were limited and unreliable. They couldn't be sure of anything if there was nothing to help them succeed.

They _could_ find another Safe Zone, but at this rate it may already be taken over by the time they got there.

Gripping the steering wheel, Quark felt the small hands of his twins cross his chest, "I'm fine. Really…I am."

Emilia grabbed her seatbelt hard, scared that safety was no longer an option for them as of now, "W-What happens n-now?"

Quark had no answer, he honestly didn't know. Rem and Ram were too busy comforting their father to think about that. Subaru was the only one who had taken that into account.

 _We won't last long out here if we just sit and wait._

Subaru looked at the fuel gauge.

 _Damn it. Almost empty._

He looked outside at the walkers that shuffled in the city, searching for food. He couldn't imagine how many more walkers were probably crowded further into the city.

So many survivors must've flooded here for safety. But as soon as one infected person breached then it became a madhouse of who could run faster. Judging by the amount of walkers, not many got out of there fast enough.

CEDA medical trucks were scattered around the perimeter of the city, but so many walkers were around it would've made a gas-run a suicide mission. They had to find another way to fill up. However, no such ideas came to mind.

Sighing deeply, Subaru started relaying what he thought they should do, "Considering our situation, the city's fucked, we're low on gas, and there's no way in hell we can make it to another car…. I say we keep heading east until either our gas runs out or we find a place to settle down."

As if fighting the idea, Ram glared at Subaru, saying, "And what if we _don't_ find a place, Barusu? What then?"

Subaru scowled back, "I'm not filled with every little detail, Ram! Get off my ass for once!"

"Subaru-kun!"

"Stop it!" Quark's voice boomed through the small space, preventing Ram from spitting venom at Subaru. The tension in the car had become thick in just a matter of seconds and nobody could handle it.

Ram and Rem returned to their seats, concerned looks crossing their faces.

When Emilia had enough, she spoke in a polite manner that made everyone's ears perk up, "Subaru, I would like to hear your plan."

Hearing Emilia speak about his plan, Subaru looked at her from the side view mirror. Emilia noticed and looked away, blushing, feeling everyone's eyes on her.

"Well like I said before, I think we should keep heading east. At least then we might be able to find somewhere that isn't crawling with the infected. They obviously came from the west so why not go east, right?"

As he spoke, walkers outside the car began to take notice of their car, the gentle hum of the engine luring them.

"There's no reason to head back. We head back, we die. We've seen the walkers back there, there's no way we can get stranded out there and live. At least if we head east and rub out of gas we might be able to find someplace on foot. But if we do find a house, or better yet another car, then we'll be safe for a while longer."

Emilia nodded along with Subaru's words, agreeing with the plan.

"RRRRRRAAAAHHHGGHHH!"

A sudden loud roar brought her attention to her door window. A walker stared back at her with menacing red eyes filled with hate, half of its face chewed off. Before Emilia could even scream, the walker threw back its head back and headbutt a huge bunch of cracks across the glass.

Combined with Emilia's scream of terror and everyone else's surprised yelp, the collective uproar triggered the rest of the shambling walkers to come rushing towards them. Within seconds, the car was surrounded with dozens of walkers that pounded onto the car, breaking the glass and denting the metal.

Finding a new outlet for his anger, Quark grabbed the neck of one of the walker's that had broken his window and planted multiple punches to it until it went limp. Up front, two walkers were slamming their heads and fists into the windshield, obscuring the horrid scene with large cracks.

Opposite to Quark, Subaru tried holding his own by smacking the butt of his bat into any walker that clawed at him. One walker grabbed the bat, but found Subaru's fist in its face the next moment, making it let go.

Emilia, Rem, and Ram squeezed together to avoid the windows that were now shattered. On either side, Ram and Emilia began kicking at the walkers that tried to crawl in.

During the losing battle, one of the walkers had managed to grab hold of Ram by her foot and started pulling her outside the car window.

Both Rem and Ram cried out in unison, "NO!"

With flesh out for them to eat, the walkers on Ram's side all focused on pulling her out, ignoring Quark.

"Honey?!" Quark heard both of his daughters scream and turned in his seat to see Ram with her foot out the window. Rem and Emilia were trying to pull her back in, but were too unmatched for the amount of walkers tugging onto her foot.

His mind went blank as he saw more walkers grab onto Ram's foot and pull on her. But nothing could compare to what Ram felt as she watched her hands start to slowly slip out of Rem and Emilia's grasp. Once they let go, she was good as dead. The only thing preventing the walkers from biting her right now was her ferocious kicking.

"Nee-sama!"

Subaru noticed what was happening and leaped to grab Ram by her arms, preventing her from moving outside any further. Looking over, Subaru could tell Quark was in shock.

"Tenshi!"

Quark looked at Subaru, who glared at him.

" **Drive!** "

Without even thinking, Quark put the car into drive and slammed on the gas. The tires slide and screeched before lurching the car forwards. Bumps told them that walkers were being plowed over by the car as they took off. The two walkers up front flew to the sides as a sudden jump knocked them off balance.

With the sudden take off of the car and Ram's kicking, the walkers were left with nothing to eat as they lost their grip on her foot. Most gave chase, but none would ever catch them.

Breathing heavily, Quark looked back with wild eyes at the Ram, "You okay, honey?"

A shaken and mentally scarred Ram was pulled into the car by her friends. She had gotten lucky and survived without any bites, her only injury were cuts from the glass and claw marks from the walkers.

Rem cried along with her sister, knowing she was extremely close to losing someone extremely dear to her. She held her sister close, her heart racing.

The sounds of the car and the low roaring of the walkers were ignored by Rem as she vowed to protect her sister at all costs. It was a decision she had made a long, long time ago. But she had never been more sure of it than she was now.

With what little gas they had left, the group traveled across a short stretch of desert before the car sputtered to a stop.

Quark clenched his teeth, "Fuck!" He tried multiple times to start the car, but with no luck. Knowing the car was done for, he punched the windshield in anger. Apparently that last hit was the finisher, as Quark sent the large piece of glass flipping away from the car, "Everybody out."

The sight frightened everyone, leading them to a state of worry for Quark.

"Father!" Rem and Ram exited the car along with Subaru and Emilia. Last was Quark, who slammed the door shut behind him, break off any pieces of glass that still clung onto the edges of the window.

At their horror, Quark began kicking at the tire's rim, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Underneath Quark's anger was fear, fear of not knowing what to do or where to go. Fear of not know if they would survive or even live to see another day. Fear for his daughters that were like angels to him.

Overall, it was the fear of death. The one thing that loomed over their heads at all times, just waiting for the right moment to strike upon them and laugh. What had happened earlier, Quark was sure was an attempt to take their lives, but luckily they were able to escape it before it was too late.

Still holding each other, the twins went to hug their father and hopefully calm him down.

Quark had just placed his hands on the car's hood with his head hung when he felt his daughters hug him tightly. At once, his hostile demeanor diminished when he heard Rem's sweet voice.

"Father, please don't be mad. Rem is sure we'll think of something."

Emilia spoke softly in a nervous voice, "Yes, don't worry, Mr. Tenshi. Maybe we should go along with Subaru's plan."

Subaru nodded, "It's kinda our only option now, Mr. Tenshi."

Understanding that walking was the only option, Quark cooled down and sighed, "I-I know it is, but….I still can't shake the feeling of…." he paused, "...nothing."

"What?"

At Subaru's question, Quark shook his head, "Nothing. It's nothing." He turned around and returned the embrace of his daughters, "Are you two alright?"

He bent down and kissed the top of each of their heads, showing fatherly affection, "Ram, are you feeling alright? Are you bit?" Worried, he held Ram's chin and checked both sides of her face and then glanced at her ankles, which were covered in scratches.

"I'm fine, Father….really." Inside, Ram was not fine. She had been so close to death that she couldn't help but feel helpless. It wasn't until now did she realize just how small she was–how small they were compared to everything happening around them. They had no power in the world anymore. It belonged to _them_.

"Thank god."

Opposite to Ram's thoughts, Quark's were filled with relief towards her safety.

A small gust of wind knocked up a bunch of dirt and pummeled the group for a bit, making them realize that it was best to start moving.

For more than an hour, the small, weak group of survivors walked. And for more than an hour, hopes of ever finding another city were endangered. Their eyes were glued to the horizon, waiting to see what would arise from it and hopefully show them salvation. However, such ideas were growing darker and darker like the sky.

Soon they were thrown into darkness as the sun disappeared and they were left with the moon and stars. Sadly, none of them had thought of bringing a flashlight.

"Guys look."

Everyone stopped at Subaru's voice. He was pointing down a dirt road that split off from the main highway. At the end of the road as a house. It was a small wooden house or shack that had a windmill next to it. It didn't look run down, but it didn't look bad either.

With the idea of finding a safe place to sleep, Quark said, "It looks deserted so I think we'll do just fine in it. Let's go."

Their eagerness to get a roof over their head increased their walking speed, making the trip there short. Approaching the wooden house, their shoes crunched the sand and stone beneath them.

Subaru noticed Rem walking ahead and told her to stay close.

"We don't know if someone or something might be in there."

Quark held his gun out, Subaru had his metal bat, Ram had her wooden sword, and Rem had her own gun. Emilia was the only one left weaponless so she stayed with Subaru.

Up on the second story, a curtain shifted, and caught Subaru's eye. However, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not so he made a mental note to search the upstairs.

Before trying the door, Quark looked through the front windows, but saw nothing. There was old furniture and other home accessories, but nothing telling them that people were living there currently.

"I'll try the door." Emilia turned the doorknob, but found that the door was locked. She gave a few more uncertain twists until she look at Subaru with a defeated expression, "It won't open."

Quark returned from a window, "Here, sweetie." He grabbed the doorknob and threw himself into the door. There was a pound cracking sounds and then Quark threw himself into the door again. This time the door swung open, bits of splintered wood flying to the floor.

The house was pitch black, and quiet. The only sound was the chirping of crickets inside and outside of the house.

That _'s gonna get annoying._

"Father, I can't see."

"Don't worry, honey, your eyes will adjust."

Slowly, the small amount of light that came through the windows helped Subaru's eyes make out the inside of the house. To the right of them was what looked to be a dining room while to their left was a living room. The stuff looked surprisingly new, except with a thin layer of dust covering most of it. Quark and his daughters went to the living room while Subaru and Emilia observed the dining room.

Subaru moved a chair from the circular table. It looked almost brand new and the tablecloth that covered it was spotless. Looking around, Emilia found a shelf that held fancy china. Next to some of the plates was a plastic bag. Looking inside, she called Subaru over.

Inside the bag was a small stack of picture frames, inside of them were still the stock photos. They were never used.

"Emilia, it's like everything in here is new." Subaru reached in the bag and removed a frame, looking at it. "Nothing in here looks worn."

Emilia set aside the bag, "I think people may have recently bought this place, Subaru."

Touching the hanging crystals from a small chandelier, Subaru said, "It's a sad thought, but I think you're right."

With the image of a new family buying what could only be their new house out in the middle of nowhere, Subaru walked over to a door on the opposite side of the room. On the other side was the kitchen.

The kitchen was small and had only a lone table that was tucked into the corner with some chairs. Emilia followed closely behind, looking behind herself periodically.

"Hmph," Subaru went to the table and wipe two fingers on it. He rubbed them together, saying curiously, "Table's kinda clean dontcha think?"

From his right, Emilia sounded shaken, "Subaru, what is that?"

Looking up, he noticed she was pointing at the table. And on the table was a short glass of water, nothing to be worried about.

However, what alarmed Subaru and Emilia was the fact that the glass had small cubes of ice in it, and was covered in condensation.

As they both watched drops of water fall down the smooth, clear surface, their minds began to think alike. Someone else was inside the house with them.

From the dining room, a quiet, threatening voice drifted to their ears, "I didn't expect people like you to come all the way out here."

In an instant, Emilia was held hostage with a blade against her throat. Before Subaru could act irrationally, a man popped out of a doorway the led to a hallway, a gun in his hand that pointed at Subaru, "Don't move."

With a gun held to his head, Subaru was unable to see who his attacker was. However, the man holding Emilia looked young, maybe in his twenties. His hair was an orangish-red color that didn't quite go along with his green eyes. A short scar traveled along his right cheek. Subaru could deduce that this guy was either an experienced fighter or a guy who luckily survived a losing knife fight. Either way, he had Emilia at his mercy, and Subaru would be damned if he left him hurt her.

The guy looked confused for a second, staring at Subaru as if he was judging him, "You don't look like a Cultist…..but you do look familiar."

Subaru took a step forward, but stopped when he felt the gun press into his head again, "Familiar how?"

"Can't say….I've met too many people." The way he had said it sounded awful, as if he didn't enjoy his experiences with others in this world.

For Subaru, it was the opposite. Since the first day of infection he hadn't seen many people, "Guess I can't say the same."

The man found this funny and spat venom, "Ha, then you're a fool. You really think others are as nice as me?"

"Wouldn't say nice."

"Nice means not killing you right here, right now, and giving you a chance."

The man behind Subaru sounded worried, giving his own opinion, "Hey, Bashur, I-I don't think he's one of the bad guys."

Nodding, Subaru said, "Yes, I agree with him. Let the girl and I go."

Bashur hesitated and looked at his partner. His partner nodded and lowered his gun away from Subaru's head.

Bashur really didn't want to follow suit. However, when he saw a woman appear from behind his partner, he lowered the knife from Emilia's throat, "You at least seem collected. I'll give you that." Upon releasing Emilia, he shoved her towards Subaru.

Emilia stumbled before being caught by him.

Holding onto Subaru tightly, she caught a glimpse of the other man holstering his gun. Shutting her eyes, Emilia whimpered, "Subaru."

Bashur slipped the knife into his pocket, "But they all seem normal until you see them for what they truly are."

Holding his silver haired maiden, Subaru narrowed his eyes at Bashur, "You said something about me being a Cultist. What exactly is that?"

From the chest pocket of his black leather jacket, Bashur produced a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. On the front of the jacket were eleven scratch marks, each the same length. He put a smoke into his mouth and lit it, "Bunch of maniacal sons of bitches that's what. They vary in sizes and age, but they all act the same."

The other man spoke, "Idiots that believe they have the right to take whoever and whatever they want. 'The Blessed' they call themselves."

It wasn't until that moment did Subaru actually turn and see the man. He looked older than Bashur. Subaru determined he was probably in this early forties, small, almost invisible wrinkles were formed along his brow. There was a small amount of stubble that covered his chin and cheeks.

Behind the man was a woman who looked to be the same age as him. With such a sweet, innocent face she looked almost motherly. She stood by, nervously playing with her long brown hair that fell over one shoulder. Her brown eyes fell upon Emilia and she smiled warmly.

The man followed Subaru's eyes, "Oh, that's my wife, Charlotte." He walked over to Charlotte and took her hand, "And I'm Sol, but most people call me Sunny."

From behind Subaru, a disgruntled Bashur mumbled, "Not anymore they don't."

* * *

With Subaru and Emilia going one way, Quark, Rem, and Ram went another.

On their side, there wasn't much to see other than empty bedroom that had nothing in them. It was obvious to them that the house was being remodeled. But it seemed it was stopped for obvious reasons.

Each of them took their time observing each and every room. Quark began to wonder if they could've possibly made camp there and waited out the infection. However, his own idea was shot down when he reminded himself that there wasn't anything around for miles.

They would need food and water, the essentials. And their supply in their bags were running low because he assumed they would've been safe by now. It would've been impossible for them to stay there long. A good place to be would've been in a city, but it should've been common knowledge that that was a very bad idea.

A horrid stench reached Quark's nose, making him gag. The smell was somewhat metallic, a stench he remembered, but didn't like that he did. It was the smell of blood...and something else.

While Rem was sifting through boxes of books and Ram was looking into another box of family photos, Quark went further down the hall to find the source of the smell.

Reaching the farthest door, he grasped the doorknob. At this point the smell was very intense, a rotting odor that clung to his nostril. But he had to be sure.

The hinges creaked as Quark opened the door slowly. Looking through the crack, he could clearly make out bloody handprints on the walls. Looking behind himself, he only saw the empty hallway and the front door. Taking a deep breath, Quark opened the door wide.

What should've been a normal room wasn't. Unopened cans of paint littered the floor, some spotted with blood. On every wall, including the only window, were bloody handprints.

The window itself was open, the bottom panel was held up to let the smell escape the room. Still, it did not help. Quark ended up covering his nose with his hand and closed the door behind him as he exited. He shook outside the door, coughing with his head down.

Quark may not have been a detective, but whatever had happened in there must've been recent. If the window had been opened for at least a whole day even a smell like would've gone away almost entirely. No, it was too intense.

Someone died in this house not too long ago.

"If it makes you feel any better; it was one of _them_."

A different voice.

Male. Not Subaru's.

A stranger.

Did he kill someone?

Where were his daughters?

Quark quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man.

Sol quickly rose his hands into the air, "Woah! A-Alrighty there bud! Just put the gun down and let's talk." He stuttered when Quark stepped closer. "Hey, hey, hey! No need to be hasty."

Cracking a fake smile, Sol held his arms up defensively and backed away from the cop. Seeing the smile agitated Quark. Whoever he was, he must have had killed someone.

Quark questioned, "Who are you? Where are my daughters?" He grabbed Sol by the front and held him against the wall easily. The impact wasn't all that hard, but Sol still grunted when pain reached his chest.

Panicked, Quark yelled out, "Rem? Ram? Where are you?"

From a room farther down the hallway, Rem and Ram poked their heads out, simultaneously murmuring, "Hmm?"

Before either of the twins could realize what was happening, Bashur turned into the hallway with Subaru and Emilia behind him.

With a flashlight, he illuminated the whole hallway by pointing the light towards the ceiling, the light reflecting everywhere. He had no clear reaction to the situation Sol was in, but when he looked at Quark his eyes slightly widened, "Never thought I'd see you again."

Quark lessened his pressure on Sol, "Again, who the hell are you?!"

"A friend. And it would be greatly appreciated if you would let mine go."

Quark saw Subaru behind Bashur. Subaru raised a hand and slowly brought it down, telling him to settle down.

Subaru had yet to let Quark distrust him, so he let go of Sol, but didn't holster his gun, "I don't think we've met before." Quark tried to place this guy's face, but nothing came up that matched his green eyes and orangish hair.

Ram reached her arm across to block Rem in case anything went out of hand.

"Ha," Bashur brought a hand up to cover his nose and mouth, "I'm not surprised you don't remember me. It was, in fact, only a few weeks ago that you saved my life, old man."

Then, Quark remembered. The young man before him had once tried to rob Zoey of her car. He had held a gun to him. He had never noticed it until now, but the survivor had also had green eyes. Without the skull bandana mask he looked completely different now that he could see his entire face.

Quark could only hope that he was as much as a friend as he claimed to be.

"You…"

Bashur lowered his hand, "I never officially got to say a thank you, or even a sorry."

Quark lowered his gun, staying silent as he glanced at his daughters.

"Just know, I'm not a bad guy...anymore."

"Then who are you?" Quark was starting to get annoyed that his question wasn't getting answered.

"Ah, names don't really matter anymore, but I'll go with your request. The name's Atbash Cifra. Weird, I know." He threw his cigarette to the floor and crushed it underneath his foot. Then, he removed the cigarette box and offered one to Quark, "Kinda hate the name, but I live by it."

Quark shook his head when Atbash held out the box, "That's fine. I've…..got my own." From the side, Ram slapped his arm, clearly disapproving of his habit.

* * *

"So, Atbash-"

"Please, call me Bashur."

Subaru nodded at his request. He figured it was for the best, considering 'Atbash' was a pretty weird name to come across.

"So, Bashur, if you don't mind me asking, what'd you do after LA?" Subaru spooned cold canned beans into his mouth that Sol gratefully gave him and the others.

Apparently, all three were there when the save zone collapsed after a large crowd of walkers shambled by. CEDA's offensive force tried to eliminate them, but there were too many.

While being friends at the time, Atbash, Charlotte, and Sol were part of the mass of people that ran. The three strayed away from the large group and split off. That's when they stumbled across this house.

Solar panels on the roof provided electricity, a still functioning system provided water, and a hurried escape from the previous occupants provided them with lots of forgotten canned food.

Atbash shifted around the beans in his can. He's answered many variations of this questions so many times that he left out more details each and every time.

He shrugged his shoulders, his voice slow, "Same as everyone else, I guess. Went to find my family, found nothing, and then went elsewhere."

Subaru nodded sadly, "I'm trying to find my family too."

"Aren't we all?"

Subaru looked at Quark, Rem, and Ram, all happily talking to Sol and Charlotte.

He smiled, "Not all. Some already have their family."

Slowly shaking his head, Atbash got up and threw his can into the trash, saying with remorse, "Yeah, but they're not mine."


	13. Breaking Bonds

Chapter 13: Breaking Bonds

* * *

Before the infection, before Earth fell to it's knees, before cities crumbled in mass, there was life.

* * *

 **April 21, 2015**

Atbash woke with a start, a cold sweat pouring down his forehead and soaking into his clean sheets.

The same nightmare had been plaguing his sleep almost every night for the past month. He couldn't remember what is was exactly, but it had something to do with Lindsay since he had woken up a few times saying her name.

"Fuck," was the only thing Atbash said as he looked over at his nightstand to see the green lights flashing on his clock reading 3:45am.

Atbash rubbed his face with his hands and sighed deeply, contemplating what to do. He sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed.

Using his right hand, he started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes since he didn't feel like falling asleep again. During this, he caught a glimpse of a framed picture on his nightstand.

Reaching across, Atbash looked sadly at the picture of a happy family of three with no father. KIA.

 _How long has it been?_

Turning the frame over, he turned the locks to the side and released the picture.

The neat hand writing on the back of the picture simply read 'Lindsay's 9th Birthday! 8-17-2013.'

 _Hasn't even been two years yet…_

Ever since her death, Lindsay had basically become Atbash's own daughter.

Being only in his mid-twenties, Atbash fought in court against his own grandparents over custody for Lindsay.

Only a few years fresh out of college, Atbash agreed to care for Lindsay just as he thought his mother would have wanted.

He wanted to watch her grow up and become her own woman. Not watch behind the closed curtains of his narcissistic grandparents that would probably make her live a boring life of exercise studying.

That was probably why his mother had grown up rebellious against her parents; stuck up old raisins with nothing to do but complain about what could've went wrong with their child.

In the end, the inevitable happened and Lindsay went to their grandparents. However, she didn't stay long since they died only a few days apart a month later. One from a heart attack the other from old age.

When custody over her was put back on the question, Atbash was the first and only member of their family to step forth.

Despite being deemed worthy of having the ability to care for a child, Atbash still had to pay for his student loans that put him in debt. On top of that were bills that had to be paid and the money he had to put aside to help get Lindsay into college.

As the harsh reality of life began to weigh down on his shoulders he began to try to find job above minimum wage to help him. However, even with his degree from college he still wasn't accepted into any decent jobs.

Atbash got off his bed and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. On the way, he peeked into Lindsay's bedroom and smiled when he saw her happily sleeping away. Blissful ignorance prevented her from realizing just how much danger she was put in because of him. It had been eating at him each and every day.

After making sure she was okay, Atbash moved onward to the kitchen and retrieved a crystal glass from a cupboard. The kitchens beautifully decorated interior gave away the fact that he was better set off than he should've been while only working two different minimum wage jobs and caring for a child.

Still, he hadn't been caught. And that's what worried him. If he hadn't been caught yet then he would be caught later with a possibly even bigger charge. He wanted out. He wanted out of this situation he somehow found himself in. He couldn't even remember how it had happened….it just did.

Atbash turned on the filtered-water faucet and filled his glass. He looked at the clear liquid for a few moments before throwing the water into the sink and snatching a bottle of whiskey from a cabinet and filling the glass with that instead.

He wanted to quit his third job, but he knew it wasn't that simple. He'd seen enough movies to know what happened to people who wanted out of illegal organizations. Against what he thought, he made it clear to a co-worker that he wanted to quit so he stay out of the authority's radar. It wasn't long after did the Kingpin, Regulus, want to meet him to discuss these affairs in person….'alone' as his co-worker had put it.

Atbash downed the glass quickly, coughing a little. Running a hand through his red hair, he made his way to a cabinet that held cheap china. After moving aside one of the walls he reached in and produced a small key.

Sighing, he stepped back and made his way to the far corner of the kitchen. He dropped to his knees and grabbed the loose tile that hid a small metal safe under the house. After unlocking it, Atbash made sure everything was in there.

Inside were a few bags of crystal meth, a large stash of money, an inactive C4 charge, a manual detonator, and an unregistered pistol.

 _It's surprising what you can get off the deep web._

Atbash stayed kneeling on the floor as his little sister's breathing made it to the kitchen from her room. Soft, slow, innocent.

* * *

 **April 21, 2015**

 **8:10am**

"You ready, you little monster?"

Lindsay nodded her head vigorously, "Mhm!"

She stood in front of Atbash with a pink Hello Kitty backpack on. Her red hair fell down to her back and seemed to have a faint shine to it in the sun.

Smiling, Atbash lowered himself to her level and tried fixing some stray hairs she had poking out, "Now remember, no beating up boys again," he looked seriously at her held a finger out, "Got it?"

Lindsay pursed her lips, "But he was being a big meanie."

"That's why there are teachers there. If you see something, you tell them."

Crossing her arms, Lindsay pouted, "Hmph."

Atbash still held his finger out, and put more emphasis on his next words, "Got it?"

"But they're bad people."

"And I understand that, but you leave those jackasses to the adults and they'll handle it so I won't have to be called in for another meeting on why you keep punching other kids."

Lindsay tilted her head slightly with a confused expression, "What's a jackass?"

Atbash paused for a second, slightly caught off guard, "Oh...umm. I'll uh….I'll tell you when you're older. Oh look, your bus is here."

As he started pushing Lindsay out the door she questioned, "Does that mean it's a bad word?"

"Just please don't say that at school." He grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her down the driveway, Lindsay's Heelys letting her roll with him.

Lindsay held a finger up as if making a point, "No promises."

"Yes to promises."

She held both her hands out as if showcasing an image, "I can see it now." Then she started impersonating her teacher and herself in a conversation, "What did you just say little missy? I don't know, but my brother said it once." She look into Atbash's unamused green eyes, "What do you think?"

"I think you're stupid and need help with that brain of yours."

Ahead, the yellow school bus stood waiting for kids to jump in. Atbash rolled Lindsay around til she faced him.

"Now, what are we _not_ going to do today?"

Lindsay looked as if she was in deep thought, "Ummmm….something about not punching bullies?"

Atbash rolled his eye, "Sure, just answer my question with a question why don't you? And also, what are our standings on the word 'jackass'?"

Smiling smugly, she questioned again, "Jack-what?"

"That's my girl." Atbash rubbed the top of Lindsay's hair, messing it up and making his previous efforts to straighten it meaningless. "Now go. I don't wanna have to actually take you to school."

With a smirk of his own, Atbash nudged Lindsay towards the bus.

Just then, a police cruiser started passing by. The sight made him go rigid and start hyperventilating. He imagined himself being suppressed against the car while other cops pulled out the warrant to strip down his house and find his secret safe. There's was no doubt Lindsay would hate him if she ever found out what he'd done.

As the cruiser came in front of his house he could practically see himself going to prison for an innumerable amount of years. By the time he got out, Lindsay would already be grown up and a different person that he didn't get to see grow up. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. That's why he planned on ending it all tonight.

The cruiser passed on by and went out of sight. Atbash sighed in relief, and then looked back at Lindsay who was already stepping into the bus.

"Bye, Bashur!"

That was the nickname he went by with almost everyone he met because apparently 'Atbash' was a tad bit off. He would usually retaliate with how some people are named Light, Star or something else weird. But still, 'Bashur' won over 'Atbash'.

As the bus pulled away, Atbash waved goodbye to his sister that sat in the backseat.

His neighbor on the right was also waving bye to her own kid that was aboard the bus. Like every day, she caught sight of Atbash and said her usual 'Good morning'.

The woman was about Atbash's age. With a beautiful face, skinny figure, glistening eyes, and long, black hair she could've passed as a model. She leaned on the short fence that separated their properties and tried making small talk with him, "So how's your sister doing? She looked extremely happy yesterday. Did she punch another bully?"

Atbash rubbed his temple and sighed in defeat, "Another bully this week taken down by her. I don't know what I'm gonna do if she keeps getting herself in trouble."

The woman smiled sweetly, "Well that's a good thing. One less bully means one less person she has to punch. And one less person she has to punch means one less person she gets in trouble for."

"Ashley, I heard about five words from that and they all had something to do with you being happy that Lindsay was punching other kids." Atbash put his arms on the fence and started scratching at the paint.

Ashley put a hand to her chest and looked like she'd been accused of a crime, "I don't condone violence, but if it's to stop a bully then yeah, I agree. And you have to tell me you don't since we've had this talk about twenty times already."

Atbash held a hand out as if presenting Ashley, "Hey, you're the one that always brings it up."

Shrugging her shoulders, Ashley looked smug, "What can I say, it gets a conversation going."

 _God, she's just like Lindsay it's disturbing._

Atbash just swatted his hand forward as if to get rid of the subject hanging in the air. To change the subject, he asked, "Well, how's Joshua?"

Joshua was Ashley's kid. He was two years younger than Lindsay, meaning that Ashley would've been a teenager when she had him. When her parents had found out, they refused to an abortion and promised to help out with him. Ashley wasn't too keen on raising her own kid, but soon she realized how important she must've been to him as his mother, and stayed.

During Joshua's infant years, Ashley worked day and night while her parents took care of him. Ashley was able to have a sustainable job that helped paid for her bills, but that still wasn't enough to pay for Joshua. That's when the child support from her boyfriend, who wanted nothing to do with Joshua, came in after a needed DNA test.

Thankfully, even her parents still helped her out to that day, willing to babysit their grandson anytime they got.

Ashley smiled and put a hand to her cheek, "Joshua is doing just fine. He's been doing amazing on all his test, but he still doesn't like doing homework. He understands the material, but doesn't want to do it at home."

"Hehe, Lindsay's the exact opposite. She does her homework but bombs the tests. I'm really starting to think she's copying her friend's homework."

Atbash pushed away from the fence and waved at Ashley, "Well, I have work soon. I'll see you later."

Ashley raised her hand to say goodbye, but brought it down and blushed, "Oh um, Bashur?"

Atbash turned back around, knowing what was to come. "Yeah?"

Shifting on her feet, Ashley blushed as she asked, "My parents are picking up Joshua from school today so I wanted to know if you were doing anything tonight?"

There it was; the same question she asked him once a week now. Atbash had no idea why a girl like her could even think about asking out him. He wasn't even dressed properly for Christ's sake and his hair was a bird's nest. Either way, she must've saw something in him since she'd been nervous about dating ever since her only other boyfriend she ever had planted a baby inside her and ran away. So it wasn't like she was just going for any guy.

Atbash blushed as well. In any other circumstance he would've said yes on the spot. Dating a girl like her was something he'd dreamed of since college, but no other girl ever seemed interested. And now that girl like that liked him he couldn't allow it. He didn't want people getting too close to him because he didn't want anyone to somehow involve themselves in what he did. He didn't want them caught in the crossfire if it ever came.

Scratching the back of his head, Atbash sounded apologetic, "Shoot, you know what? I'm double shifting again so I won't be home til late. I'd love to go out somewhere with a friend, but I can't."

Each rejection hurt more than the last.

Ashley hid her disappointment and sadness behind a grin, "That's okay. I'll get you one of these days."

With that, she waved goodbye and walked back to her front door. Atbash stood for a moment longer on his front lawn before walking back to his house as well.

A crestfallen look occupied his face the longer he looked into the contents of the hidden safe.

* * *

8:26pm

After another day of working an exhausting number of hours, Atbash retired to his house and barged through his front door. The very plan he had in his head he'd been going over all day. He refused to die today and leave Lindsay all by herself.

If all went well then he'd be free of Regulus by tonight and only have to worry about being connected to the murder.

Step one was to find a car. He couldn't use his own or else he'd definitely be traced to the crime and put in prison. He couldn't rent one or he'd be traced that way too. He needed to steal a car, and do it stealthily so no one called the cops on him until he was done with it.

With the sun dropping down below the horizon, Atbash dressed in a black jacket and black jeans to stay hidden in the dark. Along with those, he wore black gloves so his fingerprints wouldn't be found anywhere. He got together the stuff he needed and took a breather in the living room. He took this time to call the babysitter he'd hired about a year ago to pick up and care for Lindsay after school.

 _"Hello?"_

"Rom, I'm gonna be working really late tonight. So is it alright if Lindsay sleeps over at your house? I have a feeling I'll be here for a few more hours."

 _"I'm sorry to hear that, Bashur. And don't worry about Lindsay, she's having fun with Felt so I don't think she'll mind."_

"Good deal. Can I speak to her right now?"

 _"Sure."_

The sound of fumbling gave him the idea that Rom was moving through his house to find Lindsay.

If Atbash were to die tonight he at least wanted to say bye to Lindsay one last time.

 _"Hiya, Bashur!"_

"Hey, munchkin."

 _"Rom said you won't pick me up. Why?"_

"Oh, you know me, work." While talking, Atbash turned the C4 charge in his hands, playing with its rectangular shape. "I just wanted to say bye and good night to you."

 _"Oh, well, good night."_

"Also, don't forget to brush your teeth and say thank you to Rom."

 _"Uhhhhhh, fine."_

"No hitting people."

 _"Wha-?"_

"Don't be late for the bus."

 _"Can't this wait until tomorrow?"_

"And don't forget to-."

 _"I got it! Geez."_

"Alright, fine."

 _"I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Yeah, see ya'."

The call ended.

* * *

The moon was shining brightly on Atbash as he found an unlocked car.

"Sorry, man. But I need this more than you." Saying his silent apology, Atbash began to hotwire the car. Opening the panel under the steering wheel, he began stripping wires and connecting some. When the car lit up he put it in drive and started pushing the car down the driveway so it was out of the house's property. This was because when he started the car he hoped it wouldn't alarm the owners since it would sound farther away and they wouldn't think it was their own car.

Before starting the car, Atbash scooted under with the C4. Using the electric tape that he used earlier, he taped the charge on a pipe right next to the gas tank. That way it stayed hidden and it ensured a massive explosion. Then, Atbash started the car and was happy to see the gas gauge said the tank was a little over halfway full.

Not sure if it would go off, Atbash drove very carefully and avoided and bumps in the road. The last thing he wanted was to explode in the car that was already taking him to his probable death.

There were so many things he still wanted to do, but he was also still determined to do them. That's why he was doing what he was doing.

* * *

 **10:28pm**

Atbash drove to the meeting destination; a vacant lot with overgrown dried up weeds and dry dirt patches covering it.

While he waited, he started to stray away from the car and kept his hand on the remote trigger in his jacket pocket. With no backup with him, he was left alone with only his wits and will to survive. As time passed, he was starting to hope Regulus wasn't coming.

From what he'd heard from his colleagues, Regulus was a somewhat nice person who wasn't one to be aggravated unless you wanted a bullet in your skull. Not many people had seen him face to face, and those who have usually end up dead. Those lucky enough to live were lucky enough to tell about their experience. However, none ever told of his appearance.

Just as he was thinking this, a black car pulled up into the lot and parked near him. A person opened the back door and stepped out, "Ah, good. I thought you wouldn't show up. It'd be a nuisance if you made me have to actually hunt for you. Some people have actually done that me. So rude they were. They had no understanding of how much of my time they wasted just by ditching me."

 _So, this is Regulus._

Atbash stared into Regulus's golden eyes, eyeing him up. Regulus seemed to have a color scheme to him; white. White pants, white suit, white tie, white hair, and white….ish skin. Other than that, nothing else stood out on him. He had an average face with an average body. He was just your typical, average drug lord with tons of money and tons of meth just waiting to be sold.

Two other men stepped out of the car; one from the driver's seat and the other from the passenger's side. Just looking at them, Atbash knew what they were there for.

Unintentionally, he cut off Regulus's monologue that he wasn't listening to, "I thought we were supposed to be alone?"

One of Regulus's eyes twitched, but he kept a calm composure and smiled painfully, "Ah, well, we are alone. These two are here for the sole purpose of protection. They'll be so quiet you won't even notice them. I imagine you can relate, considering the line of work you're in of course. Just walking down the street is a bother to me because I never know if I'll be detained and sent to prison for life then and there." Regulus held a finger up proudly, " _But_ , my true identity is a secret. Only very few people know what I look like. And with a little….persuasion, I'm sure they won't tell anyone. So being caught is very unlikely for me. You, however, probably have to watch where you stepped because I'm sure countless people have already seen your face."

 _Then..._

Atbash scrunched his face, "Then why are you letting me see your face? We don't know each other so there's no reason for you to trust me."

Inside, Atbash was yelling at himself to shut up. Why question the man that was deciding whether to kill him or not? What if he already made his decision?

Regulus looked amused. He chuckled and started patting one of the men on the shoulder while he went on another ramble, "Trust; noun, a belief in the reliability or strength of someone or something. Funny word that is, considering I don't _trust_ anyone. My subordinates that know me are simply under my unrelenting control. I don't trust them one bit. So if I even hear a peep out of them that I don't like…" The two men pulled out silenced pistols. Regulus continued to smile, unfazed by this, "I kill them. It's the way of life, of course. I kill the weak that can't keep a secret, and then I live on. I feed off of the weak minded, making me stronger."

Even though the guns weren't pointed at him, Atbash knew what was coming and decided to call Regulus out on it. He wasn't trying to beg for mercy or try to make him see sense. He just wanted to collect enough courage to shoot his own gun. "I'm one of them, aren't I? You want to kill me."

Regulus shook his head with desperation, "Nononononono that's not it at all….actually," Regulus put a finger to his lips, "...maybe it is. I honestly haven't thought about it that much. I'm just trying to secure my spot on the top and anyone who has the ability to ruin all of it that I believe are weak are removed from the system. This, of course, is not something I want to do. I would rather avoid the conflict and allow some sort of way to do it outside of business. However, as fate has it, everything must come to an end. And I personally refuse to be a part of that. You, however, know too much." Regulus put a hand to his temple and rubbed it, as if he was having a headache, "Your job was so simple; get the product from me, sell it, and give me the higher percentage of the profit. It's so simple I don't understand why you would leave. The amount of money you've probably collected within just one year has probably tripled twice already."

Atbash started to feel the air get tenser, and started reaching into his back pocket.

Meanwhile, Regulus continued, "But like I said before; you know too much. You know the people that provide my drug to you, you know my other sellers, but worst of all, you now know me. So, and I'm sorry about this, you must be removed from the operation if you wish to leave."

The men lifted their guns and pointed them at Atbash. At the same time, he pulled out his pistol.

Atbash didn't want to die. He stupidly expected Regulus to keep his word and show up alone. He didn't expect to encounter two other men to be pointing guns at him. If he shot Regulus, there was no doubt he'd be gunned down before he could think about relief. But if he shot at the other men then the other would just shoot him as well.

 _Why didn't I buy a bulletproof vest? Damn it!_

Luckily, he still had the trick up his sleeve that he wanted to save for an extreme emergency, and this seemed like an appropriate time.

His raised hand shaking, Atbash yelled at Regulus. He thought of everyone he knew, and how much he must've let them down just by being here. No one knew what he did but he was pretty sure if they found out they would resent him. He could handle that from his other relatives that never spoke to him anyway. However, if Lindsay ever found out he would hate himself forever. The government would remove her from his care and send her if to either her aunts and u clear that didn't give a shit about her or to an orphanage that she has said would be miserable in.

No.

Regulus actually laughed for a good few seconds when Atbash pulled the gun out.

"And just what do you plan on doing with that?! You can't honestly thi-!"

Once again, Atbash interrupted Regulus with newfound fury, "I'm planning on getting back my freedom! What you've turned me into is something I always looked on as demeaning and disgusting. Selling shit to shit people for money! All the while, I stress whether or not I'll be caught and taken away from my sister! So you can't look at me and think I'll just stand down to your men and get shot down like a dog! I refuse to let you corrupt me any longer! I just want my normal life back again! I'd rather live a happy life with my sister even if we were poor! That's why I'm here in the first place!"

Regulus smiled, much to Atbash's dislike. Regulus stepped from behind his men and rose a hand, a signal to have them lower their weapons.

He approached Atbash slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose and saying with disappointment, "Bashur Bashur Bashur….you just couldn't make this that much more complicated, could you?" He came closer. "I had a plan, a plan bigger than you could ever imagine. You know, I started this….let's call it a business. I started this business not too long ago, maybe three years."

Atbash kept the gun pointed at Regulus's heart.

"And all that time, I struggled just like you. But I started getting smarter. I started making connections and deals with people I'd never thought of meeting in my life. And it was going good for a long while, things couldn't have gone any better. I've gone through so much, killed so many people who thought were smarter than me, I started an empire from the ground up and protected it with my own two hands." Regulus stepped right in front of Atbash and pressed his chest onto the gun's barrel. "I am a god, At-bash. You think you can destroy what I've created with just one gun?"

Atbash stared into Regulus's dangerous eyes and then sighed in defeat, "No."

He lowered his gun, but then brought out a detonator with his other hand. "But will a bomb do it?"

Regulus's smile disappeared as Atbash's formed. The stolen car exploded into a ball of fire that sent it jumping into the air a short distance. The sudden disturbance distracted the two men and Regulus momentarily, allowing Atbash to swing his gun and knock down Regulus, hopefully knocking him out.

Without thinking of whether or not he was going to kill the other men, Atbash shot off five rounds towards them. The man in the right got one to his stomach and leg while the other had one in his shoulder and in his hip. Both of them fell to their backs and laid there, bleeding.

Quickly, Atbash ran to the closest of the two. There was no time to celebrate, he needed a quick escape. He pointed the gun at the man's head and yelled urgently, "Keys! Now!"

The man tried hard not to show pain, but he gave it away when he had to shift and reach the keys from his pocket, making him winch. Atbash snatched the keys and ran to the black car.

Fumbling with the keys, Atbash picked out the right one and unlocked the door. Just as he was about to open it, the reflective glass showed something approaching fast. Atbash dashed to the side as Regulus slammed his fist straight through the car window, shattering it completely.

Atbash stepped back with utter shock as Regulus removed his arm from the window opening, showing that he had brass knuckles on.

"Just couldn't take it, could you, Bashur! Just had to get in my way and make this hard for the both of us!" In a flashy movement, Regulus removed and opened a butterfly knife from his pocket. "You have no right to destroy what I've created. And I'll make sure they won't find a single part of you to bury!"

Regulus swiped at Atbash with his knife, but Atbash jumped back and just barely got his jacket cut.

With only a few boxing lessons, Atbash wasn't too sure on how he'd fare in a real fight to the death. All he was able to do now was dodge each and every attack Regulus threw his way.

At one point, Atbash thought Regulus was going for a punch, so he raised his arms to block it. However, Regulus quickly changed his momentum and swiped with the knife, making a shallow cut in a Atbash's arms.

As Regulus kept advancing on Atbash, he yelled with fury, "Just stand still and die!" He finally landed a brass knuckled punch on Atbash's stomach and sent him stumbling back in pain. Atbash fell to a knee and clutched at his belly, he had felt the metal cut his skin.

Regulus swung his from below, aiming to stab into Atbash's throat. But Atbash rolled to the side and got back up to meet his attacker. The raging fire behind Atbash started to spread, burning the patches of dead weeds and grass.

Seeing him dodge his attack made Regulus scoff, "You just don't want to die with dignity, do you?!" As the fire spread, Regulus continued his screams of hatred, "I gave you a chance to make a name for yourself! You could've been great! Side by side, we could've ruled this city. Police under our control, gangs ready at a word, anything! But you just had to choose your own life over what's greater! How selfish! I don't think I've ever met anyone as selfish as you! _I_ fight! _I_ win! _I_ overcome! _I_ brought myself to what I am now and I'm proud of it!"

Atbash readied his fists; Lindsay and Ashley on his mind, "You want to live that life?" He taunted Regulus with a 'come hither' hand gesture. "You can experience it in hell."

Faster than he could even comprehend, Atbash found Regulus suddenly in front of him. He turned his head just in time for Regulus to swipe his knife up and deeply cut into his right cheek. Within the same motion, Regulus pulled his arm back and punched Atbash in the stomach. A flurry of punches covered his entire midsection until they sent him falling close to the burning car. Atbash spit out bloody saliva.

In the distance, the wailing of police sirens and ambulances cut through the night sky.

Atbash rolled onto his belly and got to his knees. Exhaustion and pain was already to overcoming him as the raging fire in front started heating up his skin and clothing to an uncomfortable state. To put it short, he was starting to give up. Regulus was clearly an experienced fighter with far more skill. There was clearly no way of winning this with hand-to-hand combat. If he could just get a gun...

Before Atbash could slowly get to his feet, Regulus held his head and put the knife to his neck. Even though Atbash couldn't see him, he could hear the hateful venom spew from his lips.

"Isn't it great, Bashur, to see all your hard work come burning down in a blaze of glory? And you came so close too. I never thought I'd get to say this, but I had fun. Too bad it has to come to an end so quickly." Atbash waited for the blade to rip across his exposed flesh. However, he felt Regulus remove the knife that had already started to bite into his flesh. Then, he heard Regulus say happily, "No… Why end the fun here when it's just begun? Come on! I wanna enjoy every second of this before the cops come! That way all they find is your burning, screaming body withering in the fire!"

Upon screaming this, Regulus grabbed Atbash and threw him closer to the burning metal that was the car. The heat intensified to the point the he couldn't handle it. To make it worse, Regulus put a hand behind his neck and started pushing his face closer to the burning fire. Regulus was too strong for him.

Now more desperate than ever, Atbash held his gloved hands against the burning, twisted metal. It quickly melted through the gloves and started burning his palms. With each second, his face came closer and closer to the fire until he started smelling his own hair start to burn.

Atbash kept blushing and pushing against the metal, yelling out in pain as he did so, "AAAAHHHHHHH!" He could feel his skin fusing into the metal. He experienced so much pain he almost fainted."

In a fluid motion, he released one hand and swung it back, hitting Regulus square in the face. When Regulus lost his strength in his grip, Atbash reached into the fire and quickly grabbed a long piece of burning metal.

Screaming in anguish and pain still, he released himself from Regulus and hit him across the face with the red hot pipe. Of course, Regulus's body went with the momentum and he fell to his side with a yell of frustration. Atbash removed his gloves quickly because the plastic was still burning him.

At that point, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances had already arrived at the edge of the lot. The only reason they stayed back was because of the fire that was still spreading across the open area, cutting them off.

Without wasting a single second, Atbash rushed to one of the already unconscious men and took the gun from their hands, his own a bloody mess.

Regulus got up to his feet and located Atbash. With fury, he threw his knife at him; barely missing. He took to charging him.

Atbash raised the gun and watched as Regulus came closer.

"Go to hell you fucking bitch."

Atbash pulled the trigger.

A spray of red flew from Regulus's chest.

Regulus fell to his knees and looked at Atbash with utter hatred. To Atbash's shock, Regulus got to his feet and started charging him again.

Three more holes formed in Regulus's suit, the same liquid staining it red. Regulus finally gave up the chase on the third bullet and slowed down to a stumble, clutching his red chest that hurt so much. It was then that Regulus finally fell back and laid motionless on the ground, a small smile on his lips.

It was over.

However, there was no time to celebrate. Throwing the gun away, Atbash ran to the black car and found the keys on the floor. Just as the firefighters were starting to douse the steam with water Atbash started the car and drove off in a different direction.

It wasn't until he was four blocks away with a cop on his tail did he realize; the gun. The gun he had used on Regulus had his prints on it. He had taken off his gloves and then used the gun. Then he threw it to the fucking ground, a vital piece of evidence against him. There was no way it would burn in the fire. The firefighters would stop it before it became too big.

Slamming his hands against the steering wheel, he couldn't help but yell out every vulgar word imaginable as he realized his life was more fucked than it had ever been.

It was truly over.

 _Murder, grand theft auto, illegal marketing, possible drug abuse…._

There were so many charges on his head. He couldn't just shake the cop and go home. He knew now he had no home.

The cops would probably go to his house first, ask Ashley if she knew his whereabouts, they would tell her everything, she would hate him, then the cops would find their way to Lindsay and repeat the same process. The only two people he truly cared about would hate him forever.

Getting onto the freeway, Atbash swerved around countless cars, trying to shake off the cop that started to lag behind.

Taking out his phone, Atbash knew he had to get rid of it. But first…

* * *

 _Bzzzz_ bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz

Ashley looked away from the TV. The caller ID on her phone read 'Bashur' so she immediately answered without hesitation.

Her melodic voice rang out happily, "Hi, Bashur! Still at work?"

On the phone, Atbash sounded frantic and scared, "No, I'm not. I'm sorry, Ashley, I lied."

If anything he could've replied with, Ashley didn't expect this. Her cheerful tone was replaced by a more sad, lonely one, "What? Why would you do that? Why-why do I hear sirens?"

 _"Listen, Ashley, please! I can't go back home! Not for a long, long time! I need to ask you a favor!"_

Ashely didn't exactly know how to respond, "Wha-? Bashur, you're not making sense."

 _"I know I'm not, but I don't have much time. Please, Ashley, I need you!"_

She didn't know what was happening, but she cared about Atbash and wanted to know what his favor was. At least then it would give a clue.

"Okay, what is it?"

 _"I need you to take care of Lindsay for me!"_

"What?!" This was surely surprising.

 _"Ashley, cops are gonna tell you about me. They're gonna say some pretty bad things, but please know I did what I had to. Lindsay was in danger so I had to protect her. You're the only one I trust to help her."_

The idea of cops chasing Atbash made her mind go wild with different possibilities, "Wh-what sort of things will the cops tell me, Bashur?"

 _"A lot of things."_

"Bash-?"

 _"Just please promise me you'll take care of her! She has nowhere else to go, Ashley! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she grew up away from family."_

"Famil-?"

 _"Please, Ashley."_

Ashley shut her eyes. This was a decision that would probably change her life forever. She had started off with one surprise kid, and now Atbash was asking her to take in another, just like that.

Hearing the police sirens and the scared tone in Atbash's voice, Ashley made her decision.

"I promise."

* * *

One thing was for sure to him, Lindsay had a new home.

* * *

"Ma'am, were with the Bakersfield Police department, do you mind answering us some questions?"

"Um...alright."

"The resident of the house to your left, Atbash Cifra, was recently involved in a violent crime. As of now, he is on the run."

"Oh my god."

"Now, apparently you had a somewhat relationship with him according to your other neighbors."

"I wouldn't really call it a _relationship_. More like a-."

"Ma'am, could you tell us where Mr. Cifra is?"

"... I'm sorry, I don't know where he went."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, ma'am. Well? Have a good rest of your day."

"Wait! What happened? What did Bashu-Atbash do?"

"Multiple cases of grand theft auto, drug trafficking, and three attempted murders. There's more, but that's the gist of it. Bastard's lucky no one died."

* * *

 **April 26, 2015**

 **4:01am**

As the city crumbled and burned, Atbash went around LA, searching for something to take him away. He needed a car, and fast. He needed to go back and make sure Lindsay and Ashley were alright in this hell.

Equipped with an empty gun, he went around trying to find a car that wasn't already broken or filled with walkers who were biting into the flesh of the unlucky ones. Seeing one bite a chunk out of a man's arm made him almost vomit.

Just when he was about to give up and hide in a building, he spotted a car. Not just any one. This one was on and free of any walkers. However, normal people were in there and if he'd learned anything in this apocalypse within the first ten minutes it was that you couldn't trust anyone.

Pulling his skull bandana over his face, Atbash made his way towards the car.

 **AN: I imagine most of you know what my inspiration was behind this story.**


	14. aWonezbthreeJyeQ

**AN:**

 **Chapter 14: Cure**

* * *

"So you never found them?"

Atbash shook his head, a sad, fake smile on his face, "Nope." The consequences of his previous actions ate at him ever since he enacted his justice upon Regulus. It's carnivorous nature stripped him to the bone until he was only a former shell of himself focused only on survival.

He was one of the few that still fought the fight even though he thought he had nothing to fight for. Perhaps he fought for humanity, but what difference would he make just avoiding the infected? No difference, that was the obvious truth.

After hearing his backstory, Subaru could only feel sorry for the man. But at the same time, he felt what Atbash did by going into the drug trading business only started what he felt sorry for. Maybe if he didn't have any reason leave the city he could've saved Ashley and Lindsay. Atbash's decision to make more money by illegal means was one he regretted making even before he was chased out of Bakersfield.

"I'm sorry, Bashur, but you never know, they still might be alive. You shouldn't believe they're dead just because you're not there with them."

These were the same words he wanted to believe about his parents. He wanted to find them and ask them so many questions. Why weren't they with him? Where had they gone? Do they miss him?

"You've seen what it's like out there," Atbash looked sadly at Sol and Charlotte, grim thoughts going through his head, "Cities are gone. People are dead and dying constantly. They probably never stood a chance. Ashley was a pretty face with no real skills that would help her here. She wasn't athletic really, she didn't have any sort of backbone that would give her the ability to kill, even if it was kill or be killed. It also didn't help that she was afraid of the dark. I just hope it was quick and painless. In our situation, that's like a gift from God. Too bad he probably isn't here anymore or else all this wouldn't have happened."

The chirping of desert crickets from somewhere inside the house sounded.

"There's only so much I can do, Subaru. I'm not gonna last forever. I might as well just throw the idea of a long life out the window. I'm not strong, or smart, or creative. Fuck it. I'm afraid of people." Atbash rubbed his face. "Can't place too much trust on anybody anymore. Nowadays, people'll look for any way to backstab you and screw you over."

Subaru commented, knowing what he was getting at, "I'm not like those people, and neither are my friends. You can trust us. We'll help in any way we can if it means making you comfortable with us."

The sound of desert crickets got louder. It was a quiet world, making it all the more soothing. The thought of Earth only being occupied by the crickets and them was a happy thought. But that was just it, a thought. Subaru could only hope that everything would just go away. At the same time, he also hoped he could just go away. He wanted to leave this place, but something kept him bound here. Something wasn't allowing him to leave.

After a minute, Atbash simply nodded. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly, knowing the night was not at all young and he needed sleep.

Atbash left, leaving the suffocating room and making to go to bed.

"Good night," Subaru said to himself.

The painful silence was cut off when Rem politely asked for more water, her voice coming from an open doorway.

So many thoughts ran through Subaru's head. Would he become like Atbash at some point? Hopeless for the future and on the verge of giving up? It wasn't a lie that he'd already committed suicide multiple times. But each time he had to force himself to pull the trigger.

So at what point would killing himself become easy? And at what point would he no matter care? What if he became an emotionless embodiment of himself that was stuck in the same loop over and over until he was granted true death. If he ever was.

His power, his ability to-

 _Return_ by _Death._

His ability to return after his death and repeat a checkpoint; when does it end? Did it end? Does he want it to end? What if it never did and he was stuck in this world forever unable to move on? Unable to truly die and experience an afterlife, if there even was one.

He had no control over his ability. Or he thought he didn't. He found that his first checkpoint had been the moment he woke up the first night of the infection. Then his next checkpoint had been just been yesterday morning when he had woken up. Both times had been the moment he'd woken up. Maybe it had something to do with him waking up last or something else unknowingly decided by him.

Either way, he wouldn't know where his next return would be and that's what worries him. He had a power that gave him an undeniable advantage over this apocalypse. Now all he had to do was make sure no one died, and just ride this out until he found his parents.

 _But what about the walkers?_

What made them in the first place? No, who created the virus that's changing people?

 _It's that stuff in them. That purple stuff that's turning them into monsters._

A virus that seemed to be passed on by saliva. Maybe it had something to do with the blood stream? Something had to stand out.

Why had he had so much time before his second death to get from his house to Rem's while bitten? He was clearly infected, but it never kicked in until he was at her house long after. Then the next time when he was bitten by both Ram and Rem he had turned in mere minutes. Why? Why was there a time difference between the two?

The most logical reason the Subaru came up with was that his first injury to the faster walker hadn't been as serious at the one's Rem and Ram applied to his fragile body. While the man had only bitten him, Rem and Ram had tore chunks off and made him spill a lot more blood. Maybe someday the answer would become more clear.

The dark haze surrounding his thoughts disappeared when he was called upon by Sol, "Hey, champ! Whaddya doing over there by yourself still? Come on over and make yourself comfortable." Sol made his point clear by pulling up a chair to the table in the kitchen.

Subaru's previous thoughts were swept away by these words of kindness, returning to their collected state. In compliance with his request, Subaru got up and sat down with the others. It wasn't long until he found himself laughing along with the rest of them.

Subaru asked for medication if they had any, his mind hurting from all the thoughts rumbling about in there. Thankfully, Sol left the room to retrieve a backpack full of aspirins, sleeping pills, gauze, alcohol, various ointments, and various painkillers. It was a medical backpack filled with useful items of interest.

Sol happily removed the aspirin and tossed them to Subaru.

Subaru voiced his gratitude, "Thanks."

To Subaru, Sol seemed like a respectful man who seemed surprisingly collected in this apocalypse. Who supposedly spent every day as if it were going to his last which might've been. His wife, Charlotte, was more on the hesitant side when it came to her new environment. She was one of those people who would have surely perished in this unforgiving predicament hadn't it been for a helping hand like her husband to get her to safety. They claimed that their story was not one to talk about considering it was as normal as it could be.

"Now Bashur's story, that's an eye-opener. Although, it's not surprising since he seemed like that kind of guy."

This caught Subaru's undivided attention, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I've never met Bashur before the infection. Charlotte and I found him in a city close to Elko or more like he found us."

Quark leaned forward, setting aside a cup he held, "He found you? So what'd he do; try to rob you?"

Sol shook his head, "Nononono nothing like that. I don't know what kind of first impression he made towards you guys, but towards us he was helpful."

Charlotte nodded. "We were actually on our way towards Elko when he found us. We had run out of gas when he found us huddled in an abandoned liquor store."

"Sounds like a good place to hole up in," Quark commented.

Sol laughed, "You'd think so, but in reality, it's very bad. Charlotte and I learned that the hard way. If it hadn't been for Bashur, a couple of bandits would've wasted us and taken everything we had."

"Did he kill them?"

"Nah, just held a gun to one of their heads and told them to get lost before he started changing his mind." Sol shifted his position and gestured to Rem, Ram, Subaru, Quark, and Emilia. "Well, unlike us, you five seem to have a more reliable aura around you."

This made Quark chuckle, "Not entirely, we've had moments where we just barely survived by the skin of our necks."

"It's not very efficient, but it works," said Ram.

Subaru rolled his eyes, "Pffffft, pleeease. All you did was stay at the house and keep watch. Your dad and I went outside and did actual scavenging."

Ram scowled at Subaru, "It's called emotional support, Barusu. Perhaps you've heard of it?"

"Oh yes, I've heard AND done it! I think the word you want to use to describe what you've done is 'nothing'!"

"Nee-sama helps Rem go to sleep every night," Rem said, trying to stop them from arguing further. "It's getting really scary when I can hear the monsters, so Nee-sama calms me down until I fall asleep."

"It's the only way she'll go to sleep. I've tried helping her so she won't be afraid anymore, but that hasn't happened yet." Rem looked away with a guilty look, but then Ram hugged her. "It's a pleasure to accompany my dearest sister to bed though. She can be quite a comfy sleeping companion."

Rem blushed, "S-sister, please."

"Not that _you'll_ ever know, Barusu." Ram stuck her tongue out at Subaru. "My sister is much too good for you."

"Oof. That hurt a lot," complained Subaru with fake pain crossing his face. He clutched his heart and fell back so that he stared at the ceiling.

Rem held her hands and brought them between her legs, "Nee-sama shouldn't be so mean to Subaru. He's been very brave. Maybe even more so than you."

"As if, Barusu!"

For the rest of the hour, the conversation took its own turns. Topics ranged from things as important to as who they thought was still alive

"I personally think and hope Bill Murray," Sol said.

As he got a few confused looks, Charlotte came in to explain, "He just loves really Bill Murray and his movies. It weirds me out sometimes when he insists we watch _Ghost Busters_ for movie night every time."

"What can I say? It's my favorite."

Then the conversation turned to something as insignificant as what their favorite colors were.

"Pink," Rem blurted happily.

Ram smiled and sighed before answering, "Blue."

"Any reasoning behind those choices?" asked Sol.

Rem and Ram both shrugged.

"Do you think we'll find any other place safer than here"

"Honestly, Rem, this house isn't going to stand much longer. It's only a matter of time before things turn from bad to worse."

"So what's your guys' plan?"

Charolette and Sol exchanged a sad look. "Run. Run anywhere where _they_ aren't. That's the only thing we really can do. We don't have any idea how to get across the country safely so we can only survive as long as possible until the government finds a solution."

Quark cleared his throat, "I'm sure they'll think of something. Even though this is something much greater than anything they'd ever dealt with I'm sure a plan of action will arise." He finished his glass of water and handed it to Sol. "And if not, then I think we can rely on good ol' Americans to go guns blazing on them bastards."

Sol smiled, imagining an army of American born citizens just blindly shooting into an equally large army of walkers. "Very amusing, but not likely."

* * *

"See you in the morning."

"Good night."

Sol and Charlotte both wished the group good night before retreating to their own room. Not before showing where the girls would sleep and where the boys would sleep, of course.

After the lights went out and the steady snoring of the others could be heard, Charlotte turned in bed to look at Sol.

She asked, "Bill Murray?"

Sol sighed like he knew this was going to be brought up. He spoke while a painful memory replayed in his mind, "I didn't know what else to say, alright? It's too soon. I-I don't want to think about it. I want to forget about it. But I don't want to forget about our son at the same time."

In response, Charlotte groaned while wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead. "I know. But I don't see why it's so bad to talk about him. We can just remember him as he was before this."

"Because I don't want to!" The sudden outburst shook Charlotte. It wasn't like Sol to be this mad, but she guessed that things changed when the world does first. Whatever hardships, losses, and pain the apocalypse had put them through already was enough for multiple lifetimes. And she wasn't sure just how much more they could take before the last threads of hope she had are severed.

Charlotte reached over to touch her husband on the shoulder, but she stopped and pulled back. Grimacing at a thought, she turned over to face away from Sol.

"Good night."

She didn't receive a reply until after she fell asleep.

"Sweet dreams, sweetie."

* * *

A man in full biohazard uniform studied a crazed man infected with the virus fight to free itself from restraints around its neck, ankles, and wrists that kept it firmly pressed to a wall. "Release him," the scientist said. A sharp snapping sound was heard as the cuffs holding the man suddenly separated and disappeared into the wall.

"GGGRRAAHHH!" The walker immediately rushed towards the man as soon as it was free, only to have a shield of glass to get in the way two feet later.

"Subject is male. He appears to be of average height, 5 feet eleven inches. Nothing abnormal about his physical attributes aside from some major injuries to his right arm and the left side of his neck. Testing should run smoothly."

The walker started banging on the glass that kept him separated from his succulent meal. It was a horrible scene that the man seemed extremely calm about. While the walker used tooth and nail to try and get to the scientist, the scientist tapped buttons on his tablet without a care in the world.

When the scientist was finished he set the tablet on a table and made sure the camera attached to his suit was still rolling. "Test subject is ready for direct contact."

 _Beep!_

The ceiling panel above the walker slid to the side, revealing a few dozen minute holes. A green light turned on inside the room, making the walker look green. The light blinked three times before turning red for a few seconds and then disappearing.

The scientist nodded approvingly. It still wasn't too late.

"No new mutations are discovered in body. Testing will now resume." The scientist reached towards the table and plucked a vial half full of a green liquid. "Placing Cure Switch." The scientist pressed a button on a monitor that stood next to the container the walker was in. A small hole opened up on the table. Without a second of hesitation, the scientist slipped the vial into the hole. The hole closed back up and beeped.

"If all goes well this time," the scientist said to himself, "then I may have just saved the world."

A green gas filled the small room the walker stood in. The beast stopped banging the glass and stared at the gas around him. The walker began to swing wildly as if trying to ward off the smoke. It gave off many loud roars before it suddenly stopped. The green gas was now so thick inside the small space that the scientist could no longer see the walker.

The wasn't any sign of movement. Had he killed it? Was it cured? Was it just not showing itself?

"Activating vacuums." The scientist pressed a button on the monitor. A fan began to remove the gas quickly.

Years of work led to this moment. Years of hiding this project from the government and the rest of the world. The gateway to a perfect world was cracked open, and it was his job to force humanity through. The creation of a new world was at his fingertips, and all he had to do was make sure all went well. The subjects, the virus, the cure. If all those worked as intended, then he would be responsible for the further evolution of humanity. He would be seen as a god. His achievements would no longer be unnoticed.

The gas cleared. The walker was limp on its back with closed eyes. Its hair was now green. It was silent. The beast was still as a rock.

"Test Subject is unmoving. It's showing no sign of aggression. Previous visual symptoms also seem to have weakened." The scientist kneeled down and observed the still body. A feeling of excitement overcame him as the purple tint in the skin of the walker began to disappear. "The virus is dying. It's dying! Discoloration of the arteries is next to gone! The cure is destroying the virus! But now the host. Let me see what is of the hos-"

"GRAHH!"

The scientist jumped back just as the walker suddenly woke up with a loud shout. The virus started to take over again.

"Damn it."

Shaken up, the scientist cursed and got to his feet. The walker followed him with his eyes, growling with hatred. The cure had no finished effect, just like all the other walkers that were tested on. It seemed the world would have to wait just a few more weeks before he could develop a potent cure.

A few minutes later, the man was now out of his hazmat suit and going over the results in another room that held only a desk and a few shelves. It may have been a disappointing experiment, but it did provide some information he needed to create a more effective cure. This one was strong enough to wipe most of the virus out, but not strong enough to kill it entirely.

Opening his hand, he looked disapprovingly at an empty vial that once held the cure. Sighing, he opened a waste bin with a biohazard symbol and threw it in there. He pulled out a few papers from his desk and began filling them out. Even when the world was at its end, work still had to be done.

A beautiful woman in a white uniform entered the room. Her long, white hair trailer down elegantly down her back, giving her an angelic look. Her uniform was kept crystal clean except for a small spot on her collar that seemed to be a blood stain. Her entrance went unnoticed until she said, "Betelgeuse!"

"Gah! Administrator!" Betelgeuse fumbled with his pen for a second before it fell to the floor and rolled away.

Satella stopped the pen with her foot and picked it up. Her voice was like honey, smooth and sweet, but commanding at the same time, "Any further progress, Betelgeuse? I haven't heard many promising things from your peers so I've decided to come visit you myself."

Betelgeuse scrambled to arrange the papers around his desk. Satella's sudden appearance was something he wasn't ready for. "I-I apologize, Administrator! I wasn't expecting to see you anytime soon."

Satella calmly placed the pen on Betelgeuse's desk, making him stop rearranging papers. "Worry not, Juice. I'm not here to punish you. We still have time, I just wish to know the progress." While her voice sounded kind, her face showed stern fierceness.

Betelgeuse noticed. "Well, A-Administrator, the latest solution is very effective. It just doesn't quite….." Betelgeuse paused, fearing what Satella might say if he told her it wasn't ready yet for the thirtieth time. "... get the job done. I just need two more months."

Smiling, Satella unscrewed the tip of the pen and removed the ink pen. "Alright."

Betelgeuse brushes aside some of his hair that was getting in his eyes. "Really, Administrator? You're not angry?"

"No, not angry," Satella said as she started dismantling the pen further. "Just impatient. I don't want to seem like an angry, unreasonable boss."

Betelgeuse smiled, meaning to flatter the woman. "Well, you don't seem all that bad to me, Satella. You're just a very commanding head of CEDA which is good since what we're trying to do. I envy that of you."

"Yes, well, I hold too many responsibilities now. It's best for me not to lower my guard." Satella placed the dismantled pieces of the pen in front of Betelgeuse. "Now, you say you're having a problem with creating the cure, yes?"

Betelgeuse nodded. He was starting to get nervous again.

Smiling still, Satella said, "I see. Well, in that case, I want you to fix this pen for me." She plucked the spring from the assembly pile and stretched it so it could never be fixed.

"Um." Betelgeuse scratched his head and began putting the pen together, not quite getting why Satella was asking this of him. He had almost finished when he realized he needed the spring to finish it. "Administrator, I need the spring you took."

"Oh, that little thing? No, you don't need that."

"What do you mean?"

"Like the cure, I so need for this virus, Juice, I just need you to finish it. As long as it does what it's supposed to then I'm happy. I don't expect amazing results, Juice, just acceptable. We don't need it single out just some people. Perhaps, cleaning everything should be easier for the both of us.

Betelgeuse topped the pen with the tip. It was finished, just not complete. With the ink still able to come out of the pen, some would say it was still usable in that condition even though it wasn't proper. And according to Satella, it was all she needed.

"Good," she said. "Now, what can you tell me about your research so far?" She leaned forward, anticipating a good answer.

Betelgeuse hesitated before answering. "I-It'll be ready soon." He didn't like it. Satella wanted something greater, more effective towards the cure. She wanted something that would rid the world of the virus and everything else with it. But he knew he had to. It would save the world. He would be a hero. All he needed was time.

"I know it's hard, Juice, to be working alone during hard times like these." Pushing away from the table, Satella brushed some dust from her perfect uniform. "But desperate times call for desperate measures, I assume you already know that. Plus, you have yet to fail me and I hope this won't be your first." Betelgeuse watched, with unwavering eyes, Satella open the door to leave. "Okabe is already finishing up his side of the project. I can only hope you will soon, as well."

Betelgeuse stood up, wanting to ask something. "Wait!"

Satella stopped in her tracks and asked without turning, "Yes, Juice?"

"W-What has become of Emilia? Is she safe?" His voice was full of concern. He truly wanted to know if Emilia was safe, only then could he finally relax a little.

"Yes," Satella tapped her fingernails against the door frame. "She's safe for now, but it's best she stays out there for now. You understand why?"

"Of course, Administrator." Betelgeuse sat back down. "Thank you."

"Mhm." Satella walked out and closed the door behind her. "Now," she said to herself, "... time to visit the lovely couple."

[LB]

"Wake up!"

Suddenly afraid and scared, Ashely woke up after having her face doused with ice-cold water. She scrabbled to scoot away from whoever had yelled at her to wake up, and who most likely was also the person that threw the water. She rubbed her eyes, trying to at least see her surroundings.

"Lindsay!" she screamed, trying to locate the little girl. However, Lindsay didn't answer. "Where are you?!"

A male voice to her right said, "Ah fuck, she's a screamer." He sounded more pissed than disappointed.

"Then gag her already," came a female voice to her left.

Ashely was just barely able to make out who the people were, but then she suddenly found a towel shoved in her mouth. Then her loud screams were silenced.

"Ah, much better."

The guy that stuffed her mouth grabbed Ashley's face. "You think she's the one? She looks kinda ugly when she's crying."

"Even if she isn't who he's looking' for we can still probably get rewarded if he likes her."

All three of the goons nodded. Ashely stayed silent, looking for any way to get out, but nothing came to mind. By the sound of it, the people seemed to be giving her to someone for some sort of reward money? But what would anyone want with her?

Finally, Ashely made out her surroundings. She and the three of the goons were inside a small little office room. There was one window. Looking outside, all Ashely saw were walls made of rusting metal, and a ceiling of the same material. Most likely, she was in a warehouse. What was outside the warehouse, Ashely didn't know and was scared she never _would_ know.

"Here he comes," said the woman, who was looking out the window.

The door opened and a fairly average looking young man stepped in. He looked at Ashely and smiled. Somehow, the smile made her feel uncomfortable even though there was nothing weird or scary about the guy.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes,' he began, "My name's Regulus. You may not know me, but I know a lot about you."

* * *

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	15. From Bad to Worse

**AN: Sorry for yet another short chapter, but I'm going to be even more busy this week than I have been recently. To be honest, this chapter isn't complete but I'll be sure to make up for that next time. My goal is to give small clues about the story along each chapter and tie it all in the end. But you may all just figure it out sooner, but I guess just enjoy. Until next time, mah d00ds and gals.**

 **Chapter 15: From Bad to Worse**

 _Ding dong!_

"Hm?"

The self-proclaimed mad scientist called Okabe looked up from his desk, a pathetic excuse for what he called an 'organized' work station.

"Mayuri," he called while turning back to his desk, "status report."

The young girl, Mayuri, sitting on the couch just to his left turned her attention away from the TV. "Someone's at the door."

Okabe rubbed his temples in slight annoyance. "I meant, who's at the door?"

"Oh!" Mayuri bounced to her feet and walked to the front door of the apartment's room. She looked through the peephole and found a woman with two men standing on either side of her. The woman was beautiful, adoring a set of clothing that made it clear she was here for business. What worried Mayuri, however, were the two men that were dressed in black suits while wearing dark sunglasses that shielded their eyes.

The woman reached forward and began knocking on the door, making Mayuri retreat away from it and jump to Okabe's side.

"Okabe, there are scary people at the front door with a lady," Mayuri said quietly.

"What?" Okabe set down the screwdriver he held. He made his way to the front door and took a quick look through the peephole before throwing his back against it aggressively. "Damn it," he said under his breath.

"Who is it?" Mayuri asked, fear setting into her once calm demeanor.

"The Organization, of course." Okabe reached across and grabbed a homemade tool from a shelf, a toy gun looking contraction that shot bolts of electricity that would immediately paralyze any human within a second. "Damn. How did they found out where we did our experiments? I must be getting careless!" He then looked at the peephole and edged away from it as if it were dangerous.

Okabe frantically looked around the room until they landed on Mayuri. "Mayuri, we must enact Operation G.S.A.B.H.A!"

The girl blushed in embarrassment. She touched her index fingers together while asking, "W-what was that operation again?"

"Are you serious? We just went over this last month!"

Outside the door the woman raised an eyebrow, hearing the conversation that was just on the other side of the door.

Running out of options, Okabe looked over at the window of that led outside, but he highly doubted he should take that risk seeing as he was up a flight of stairs. "Blast it! Stand back, Mayuri."

Mayuri didn't have to be told twice, quickly retreating to safety by hiding behind Okabe and clinging to his coat.

The woman outside said clear enough to be heard, "Mr. Rintarou, my name is Satella. I'm with the United States Government. May I come in? I mean to have an urgent talk with you."

"What?!" Okabe said to himself. "What in Newton's name are American officials doing at my door?" He put a finger to his mouth, a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm. Perhaps The Organization sent these fakes, thinking I would fall for something so childish."

He snickered, "How insulting. As if I'd ever fall for that kind of child's play."

"Mr. Rintarou, I know of your Phone Wave."

Okabe was silent. No one but lab members knew about it, his world-changing invention. "I'm sorry," he began, "but I'm not taking any visitors right now!"

Satella put her hands behind her back, saying quietly, "Leave us."

The two men on either side of her immediately walked back down to the ground floor to wait for her return.

"Mr. Rintarou, I'm not here to take away your great achievement as you may possibly think. I wish to recruit you."

After some hesitation, Okabe slid the security bolt of the door into place and opened the door as far as the chain allowed. He asked hastily, "Recruit me? And what if I told you I didn't have what you were looking for?"

Smiling, Satella said through tired breaths, "Please, Mr. Rintarou, it's been a very long year. And I wish not to repeat it."

Okabe looked suspiciously over in the direction he other men had left then looked back towards Satella. Frowning, he asked, "How? How do you know of it? Who told you?"

Satella stared down the hall, choosing what to say next. "A friend of mine. Mutual friend of ours."

Okabe stared at Satella for a second. Neither said anything before he slammed the door closed.

There was the sound of metal on metal and then the door fully opened. Satella was then greeted to the sight of Okabe, the man that would help her change the world for better or for worse.

* * *

"You can't be serious, Father."

With a furious look, Ram questioned Quark on why they had to leave again.

Quark shrugged, "Sorry, sweetie. It's like Sol and Bashur said, the only chance we have right now is if we get to New York."

Ram followed her father into the kitchen, a heavy weight in her feet, "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard of. Do you realize just how far we are from there?!"

Currently in Nevada, it was safe to say they were quite far from their destination. Everyone knew this all too well, and nobody liked it. Subaru didn't want to leave, but came to terms that it was for the best if they wanted guaranteed safety. Emilia agreed with it almost immediately, wanting to be as safe as possible. Rem and Ram took it differently. Ram had first assumed it was a stupid idea that had came from none other than Subaru, but then she found out that wasn't the case. Rem decided to follow her sister, knowing that the move would be very scary.

Atbash definitely didn't like the idea, but knew what it meant if it worked. The downside to this was that driving would attract attention to themselves, the attention of both walkers and people like the Cultists.

"I don't need reminding, but we have to. We're at our best right now and we can't wait until we get desperate." Quark grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and placed it into the backpack. "If we wait too long here then it may be too late when we actually need to leave. This way we have a greater chance. It's harder nowadays to trust people, but we're safer in numbers. Especially with the people we have."

"We don't even have a car," Ram said.

"I know. Then I suggest we leave as soon as possible. I don't know about you, but I'd rather find another place to sleep than sleep out in the open at night." Quark handed the bag to Ram. "So I suggest you start packing as much as you can carry."

Outside, Subaru began to take inventory of what he was carrying. He counted a few cans of vegetables, a couple bottles of water, and miscellaneous supplies he thought would come in handy.

It wasn't much at all. With all of them, their entire food supply would probably last only a week. And that was if they ate the bare minimum each day. It didn't seem good, but Sol assured them they were within a day away from the next city. However, Atbash didn't see that as a good thing.

"That's suicide nowadays," Atbash commented. "We can't risk going through big cities. Who knows just how many of those things are out in those buildings."

Sol crossed his arms, "Then what do you suggest we do? We have to head east and that's the only way."

"We cross the river. The only way we'll be able to ensure our survival for just today would be to travel away from the crowd."

"What about supplies? We can't survive just with what we've got on our backs."

"We'll deal with that problem when it comes up. For now, we have to deal with the matter at hand and get as far away from here as possible."

Sol sighed. "Understood." He then spoke softly to make sure no one else but themselves heard, "And what about the other five?"

Atbash made no effort to lower his voice. Instead, he spoke clearly as if expecting everyone to hear. "What of them?"

The action made Sol cringe. "They seem like an okay bunch. You think we can trust them?"

"I mainly trust _him_ to keep us alive. As for the rest of them… let's just hope they won't be dead weight."

"Hehe. It's funny because that's what you used to call Charlotte and I." Sol smiled, remembering when Atbash would call him that very name the first few days they traveled together.

"Pffft." Atbash shouldered his backpack and walked towards the road, saying, "That hasn't changed one bit."

Sol called out to Atbash, "One day it will!"

"Perhaps in another life!"

Sol smiled and turned around. "Hopefully, that life won't be as bad as this one."

* * *

Quark groaned as he stretched. "You guys ready?" He asked the group.

"No, not really," Subaru said, finishing up his calisthenics, "But I feel forced to say yes since I probably don't have a choice.

"Right you are, Subaru."

As Quark and Subaru walked out the front door with Rem close behind, Ram lagged behind. With a sour look on her face, she turned back to take in the house. An empty shell, coated with forgotten and abandoned memories. Familiarity to her.

"Nee-sama!"

"Coming!" Ram gave one last look at her reflection in a broken mirror on the floor, hints of blood staining the jagged edges of the once beautiful work of craftsmanship.

The sun was starting to make its descent when everyone reached the river. They walked along the side of the bank, the large city ahead being visible. Surprisingly, the river wasn't too deep, allowing them to walk through it with their backpacks held above their heads.

"Never. Again." Ram growled as she waddled from the river, soaked like a sponge just outta water.

Subaru came next, his situation just as bad. "Hey, it could be worse."

"I'd rather you NOT talk to me right now, Barusu."

"Like that statement means anything to me."

Sol threw his backpack onto the dry dirt just before stepping out of the river. "You two sure do get along quite well," he said sarcastically.

Rem came next, being carried on Quark's shoulders while she held two backpacks in her arms. "Subaru-kun and Nee-sama do get along quite often. You just have to be there to believe it."

"Huh. Usually, when a girl is being mean but also friendly it's like a way of flirting for a girl like her."

Subaru facepalmed then held a hand towards Ram as she said furiously, "As if! I wouldn't be caught dead dating Barusu even if he were the last man on Earth!"

Ram looked over at Sol and caught sight of her father and Rem. She threw her hands up, sending a small stream of water flying. "You didn't offer to carry me, father!"

Quark looked guilty, but overshadowed it with a smile. "Well, you know how much your sister doesn't like being in wet clothes. Plus, she asked and I couldn't just say no."

"Hmpf."

Atbash shook as much water as he could from his clothes. "Darn. I guess it would've been a good idea to pack towels."

"Ay, stop that," Sol said, shielding himself from Atbash's spray of water.

"Oof, sorry." Atbash took off a shoe and emptied it of water and a few pebbles. "So...um, I guess we just follow the river. Disclaimer: from here on out I have absolutely no idea where we're going."

"Well then let's hurry up. It won't be long until night comes and it starts getting cold."

* * *

"Open up, Rintarou!"

Satella knocked harder on the door, a mad look in her eyes. They were different, as if they were broken, the cracks of insanity stretching across the smooth surface.

On the other side of the door, Okabe set down the blueprints that had been in his hand. Without a word, he signaled for Mayuri to hide. Quietly, Mayuri shuffled under the dining room table, using the chairs as cover.

Okabe nodded at this, relaxing since she had understood. Fearing the worst, Okabe had a feeling he knew just who was at his door. To kill speculation, he checked the peephole. It was just as he had expected.

"Okabe!" Satella said loudly.

"No!" Okabe screamed back. "I've seen your World Line in my sleep! I've had nightmares of it and I REFUSE to take any part of whatever you have planned!" The sleepless night he'd been having frequently all had the same thing; blood, death, fire, along with it came the same voice that now spoke to him telling him what they did was beautiful.

Suddenly the door swung open, bits of the wooden frame snapping off from where the lock had been. One of the men standing with Satella had kicked it with one powerful hit.

A shout came from the base of the stairs, "What the hell?!"

A muscular man by the name of Yuugo Tennouji climbed the stairs quickly, only to be greeted with a gun to his face. The short smile crossed his face, "Damn it, Okabe," he said bitterly, "You didn't tell me you were having visitors."

"Well, it's not like they were invited anywho."

In an instant, Yuugo disarmed the man that held the gun and punched him across the face, an instant knockout. This triumph was short lived when the other man pulled out a taser and quickly subdued him.

"Mr. Braun!" Okabe cried out in panic when Yuugo fell in a heap.

Mayuri tucked her legs closer to her face, trying her best not to make a sound. Fear set in deeper, causing her to take rapid breaths.

Satella remained calm throughout this, knowing she would get what she wanted. Nothing would stop this already derailed train. She's worked for so many years just to be here, so nothing would stop her from getting what she needed.

Okabe took a step back. He feared not for himself, but for what his nightmares had shown him; a shattered reality, devoid of life.

"W-what is it you want?"

Satella stepped into the room, looking around its familiar interior decor with an amused smile. She picked up an empty pudding cup that was left on top of a table. "I only require your cooperation. With or without your consent." She then dropped the cup onto the floor, crushing it under her foot.

Okabe then took another step back. He considered running, but knew there was no way he could escape the situation.

"Now, Okabe, tell me about the Phone Wave you plan on creating?"

* * *

"Albert Einstein once compared mankind to mice. Saying a mouse would never create a mouse trap just as how we never should've created the atomic bomb…. We created it to end a war, not caring that it may someday be the weapon used to end the world."

"Then history just repeats itself, I suppose."


	16. Since the Beginning

**AN: Hello again! I'm back and ready to finish what I've started. I hope you all enjoy what i have for this chapter. I like to think my writting thrives with action sequences, but this chapter is dedicated mainly to set up and some character development. I've put a lot of thought into the story and characters to the point where I've mapped the route they would take and the locations they would visit thanks to Google Earth since I havent gone to every place I'm settting in this story. So if you feel interested in following our charcters with a map then it wont be hard to figure out where they currently are in the story. I'll see you at the end of the chapter.**

Chapter 16: Since the Beginning

* * *

"Subaru, so glad you could stop by!"

"Glad to be here, Mr. Tenshi!"

An elementary grade Subaru stepped into the Tenshi residence when Quark stepped aside to let the little one in. Dressed in a doctor's uniform from Halloween, Subaru asked Quark to see the patient.

The tiny Subaru's serious expression contrasted his innocent look and pudgy cheeks. Still young, the mischievous glint was still permanent in his eyes despite having no intention to cause trouble. Right now, he was the doctor he was needed to be.

"Yes, doctor." Smiling, Quark led Subaru to the room despite having done so already many other times. "She's got sick yesterday so hopefully you can work your magic and make her better again."

Subaru put his tiny hands in the pockets of his coat, doing so as he'd seen doctors do on television. He turned to Quark, having to look up. "I cannot make any promises, but I'll see what I can do. Please wait here while I athes… atess.."

See he was having trouble remembering the word, Quark provided some help. "Assess?"

Subaru nodded, a blush forming from embarrassment in his face. "Yes, that's the word. Wait here while I athess-"

"Assess."

"-assess the patient."

With that, little Subaru walked into Ram's room. With little effort, he climbs up a small stepping stool to be able to look over Ram. Upon noticing Subaru, Ram's tired lips instantly rose into a smile.

"You came," was all she said before Subaru took out a small clipboard he'd been hiding under his coat.

"Like I could ever leave my favorite patient!" Subaru exclaimed in glee, making Ram smile even wider.

Since birth, Ram had often found herself becoming sick. To no surprise, she was born with a weak immune system. And since then, Quark had tried everything to get her to strengthen it. While still young, he couldn't force her to do much except to be healthy and take care of herself. It wouldn't be for a few more years that she would decide to do kendo as an exercise that would help her stay strong and strengthen her immune system.

In these often times where Ram would be sick, Subaru would find his way to her as her doctor. It had all started off as a joke from his mother. She gave him the lab coat he'd worn before when he wanted to be her for Halloween, and set to heal the sick.

Growing up, Subaru came to believe that the sweet candy Tootsie Rolls had healing powers. He came to believe this from his father's word. He had once gave Subaru a green one, claiming it would cure him of his sickness. He wouldn't have believed it hadn't it been for the fact that he was all better the next morning. From then on he truly believed in the healing power of the sweet candy.

So when the day came that he heard news that Ram was sick, he was motivated to heal her with candy. And so, that was when he began to be her self-proclaimed doctor. She shared his knowledge of the candy with Ram, insisting that they worked. So when he gave them to her and she inevitably got better by natural means he took the credit, proclaiming that he once again healed Ram. And Ram, not knowing any better at that age, would believe it as well.

So when Subaru came to Ram's house once again she was more than happy.

During the time they spoke, Ram told Subaru her symptoms. With that, he sifted through the candies and produced a pink Tootsie Roll. After unwrapping the sweet he reached over and placed it into Ram's open mouth.

Her smile, when tasting the fruity candy, brought a feeling of warmth in the pit of Subaru's stomach. He couldn't process what it meant, but knew he couldn't wait to feel it again.

* * *

The sun slowly began its descent, giving off an allusion of beauty as the sky was tinted orange with purple streaks. And with the beauty of the evening sky came the dim lights of the upcoming stars, their glow barely making it through the short remaining sunlight. Their light, a small glimmer in the expansive space, made a scene of beauty.

A flock of birds flew overhead, their lives remaining unaffected while others were changed forever. As they flew down to the river to drink, a group of survivors in this unforgiving world observed them with interest. Of all the things to out live humans, the bird brains did.

The sounds of the water was calming, but not enough to take them off edge. Anything could happen at any moment. And if they weren't ready then they might as well be dead.

It wasn't long before the sun began to sink below the horizon. Atbash shook his head, "Damn it. Got lost in thought." He stopped in his tracks and sighed. Quark stopped shortly after, yawning as he did so.

"We'll have to cross again if we want to find a place before night falls. I can see buildings, but not much. We'll have to make due."

"I knew this was going to happen. Now I'm gonna have to get soaked again," Charlotte whined.

Sol hobbled up next to his wife, using her shoulder for support while he caught his breath. "Not that…. not that we can help it much. If we're lucky we might actually find a working car." Charlotte shot a glare at her husband for using her as an arms rest, making him remove his arm quickly.

"Well, there isn't much we can do here now is there?"

"We should spread out and cover more ground that way we find something sooner."

Atbash smiled as he took the first few steps into the water. "You've got to be joking me."

"Hey, it worked for Scooby Doo and the gang, right? If it worked for them, why not us?"

* * *

"Can we just rest for a bit? My legs aren't what they used to be," Sol whined as he reached the other side.

Without a word, the rest of the survivors agreed and took a knee or sat down in a circle.

Panting, Sol made a circular motion with his hand, edging on a sort of conversation. "So, uh, like what's the plan? What happens now?"

Quark scanned the small buildings, finding nothing dangerous.

It was nearly barren except for the occasional building. It seemed more like a desolate residential area rather than a city.

"Not too sure, but we'll definitely need to find a place to settle down until the sun comes back up. We didn't cover much ground especially with the sun cooking us alive so I'm still on board with finding a car."

" _If_ we can find a car," Atbash corrected.

"We'll find one," Ram stated, glaring at Atbash. "We've had nothing but bad luck, something good has to come our way."

Grinning, Atbash turned away walking towards the closest building. "We _were_ your good luck, little miss princess. I'm not trying to be mister downer, just stating my personal opinion. At this point in time, there'll more bad things than good things in store for us. So we best be ready when they hit."

"Has he always been that obnoxious," Ram asked Sol and Charlotte.

The couple shared a look. Sol shrugged, saying, "From the time we first met him till now, I'd say yes."

"Just a bit," Charlotte admitted. "It can't be all his fault though. He's always had a hard time getting along with people."

Quark sighed, looking out after Atbash. "I don't think it's that," he claimed.

The others turned to Quark, who was still watching Atbash walk off on his own. "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't seem to me that he naturally just doesn't get along with people. It I think it's more so he's trying to keep us at a distance. He'll tell us his story, sure, but then he'll expect nothing in return. He's willing to share, but not willing to talk any further about it."

"So…. what? Are we just supposed to do what he wants and ignore him until the day he dies?"

"Of course not. I'm sure he thinks he has nothing left to lose at this point, so it wouldn't surprise me if he became reckless. But if he truly does care about being with us and helping us survive then he'll watch himself and know his boundaries."

"You talk as if Charlotte and I don't know him. We've been with him almost since the beginning of this, and not once has he ever put our lives in danger."

"Hmm. Then maybe I was wrong. I apologize. But I'll still be keeping an eye on him."

"As we all should with each other. As far as we know we could be the only non infected for hundreds of miles. Helping one another out will get us farther along the path, and make the walking trip that much more enjoyable if at all."

"Walking is a no go for me. I thought we went over this already."

* * *

Coming to the edge of a road, Sol looked into the small collection of buildings. There wasn't much to see, so he assumed there wouldn't be much to use from it. Scanning his eyes around the area, he caught sight of Atbash peering through one of the windows of a house. When he caught up, Atbash had already moved on.

Checking the front door, Atbash found that it was unlocked. After pushing his way in, he noticed that nothing was out of the ordinary. The only thing wrong with the image, of at all, was the fact that the television was smashed. He looked around the kitchen, noticing that it had already been looted. By whom, he could only assume by the previous owners. The fridge was still open, it's contents all missing.

Moving to the hallway that connected the kitchen to the rest of the house, Atbash made for the first door on the left. He opened the door and immediately with he hadn't. Inside were two people, the property owners. Both were sitting against the wall, one with a gun in their hand and bullet in the head, the other with a messy shirt and a bottle of pills next to them. He didn't know the story of what had happened here, but knew he didn't want to.

A shallow feeling of envy pulled at his brain as he looked at the couple. While dead, they had died with each other maybe accepting the fact that they couldn't survive in this world now that every major government and country was reduced to nothing but a smoldering pile of ash.

"Hey, Earth to Bashur!" Sol, who had suddenly made his appearance, waved his hand in front of Atbash's face. With little to no reaction from his friend, Sol looked into the room that was so interesting.

The sight made his sick to his stomach. "Not this place. We can sleep elsewhere." Sol then pulled Atbash away from the terrible sight, unknowing of just how much the image alone affected Atbash. Sol took Atbash outside then let go to take a few deep breaths.

Looking back at the house, Atbash knew how hard it must've been. He himself had been there too. Those people had sought the easy way out. Atbash himself had thought of it too, multiple times. Since the day he found the house he had been living in with Lindsay broken and burned to the ground he knew she had to be dead. The whole street had been destroyed as a matter of fact.

Having fought through countless infected, and too many uninfected, he had finally reached the place he'd last called home only to find it completely gone. The streets had been colored red, the crimson liquid pouring down into the storm drains, collecting as one. It had been a sight he screamed at. It was over.

Lindsay, his ferocious little sister, and Ashley, the kind girl he never got to confess to, both were forever gone. His job with drug trade had showed him the endless abyss of misery, his forced escape from authorities had pushed him to the edge of it, then their deaths had castes him over and into the hole.

And now, it was always a part of him, the hole. He couldn't think of it any other way. It was a hole in him that could never be filled. And knowing he couldn't fill it, knowing that they would never come back, he thought of taking the easy way out. With his two only loved ones dead, what was there for him to do? Was he supposed to save himself? What good would that do if all he ever did before was ruin people's lives? Why would he, a man who willingly let people give him money to kill themselves, be given the time to survive?

Back then, he felt he had known. He was given the time he had just so he could know that he had killed his sister. Because of his involvement with the dark side of society he'd been forced to leave behind everything he loved, this preventing him from protecting them.

It had been the ultimate form of punishment. He no longer had anything left to live for because everything had already been taken. So why was he still here now that he'd seen what God had intended for him to see? That question he was never able to answer. But on his last day, the day he decided he'd end it all, he found a purpose.

And so, having looked at the deceased couple, Atbash not only saw a tragedy but what could have been him only a few weeks ago.

"Hey, you alright, son?" Sol asked, shaking Atbash's shoulder to get his attention away from the house.

Turning to his friend, Atbash could sense the genuine concern in his voice. "Y-Yeah, I was just thinking about something."

Sol nodded. "Alright. Just don't go crazy on us." Patting Atbash's shoulder, he smiled and informed him of their findings. "Well, while you were off somewhere else, the others found a suitable house and a truck. Buts it's kinda beat up so we're not sure whether it'll work or not."

"You know anything about cars?"

"Just a little."

"That's good enough. All we need to do is start it. We can find a better car later on."

* * *

"Okay, now open up that panel there," Atbash informed, teaching Ram how to hotwire a car.

Ram did as she was told, using a screwdriver to open the panel sweaty the steering wheel. "Alright, what next?"

While Subaru and Rem watched as well from the bed of the truck, and Emilia in the passenger seat, the others stayed inside the house. Which was identical to the first one Atbash had found.

"Some day, huh?" Quark asked Sol and Charlotte, who were both resting on a couch that sat in the living room.

"I guess. We covered a small amount of ground though. If we don't get this car started we might get cooked out there."

Charlotte rested her head on Sol's shoulder, saying, "If it doesn't start then we should really start moving at night. At least then it'll be a lot cooler and easier to move around in."

Sol countered, "That'd be nice, but when it's dark we can't see as well. What if we get surprise attacked by a group of the infected?"

Charlotte reached up and playfully poked her husband's face. "We're in a flat plain. We'll be able to see them from far away because they'll have nowhere to hide, I imagine."

"I guess you're right," Sol said, attempting to say it normally with Charlotte's finger poking his cheek.

There was a moment of silence. Both parties on the couch started to close their eyes when Quark asked a question about them as he entered the room. "So, I never really got to ask. What did you two do before this all happened?"

"Charlotte here used to be a dealer. Sold a bunch of different varieties of that green stuff."

Quark looked at Charlotte, a surprised look on his face.

"A florist," she reassured, pinching Sol's cheek.

"And I used to be a handler for that good old white powder."

"A baker."

"Why you gotta make us sound less interesting?"

"So you don't make us sound like bad people."

"Hey, Bashur turned out great!"

"He's an exception."

Smiling, Sol asked Quark of his previous occupation.

"Well," Quark scratched his chin. "I used to be a police officer. Los Angeles Police Department. It was a tough job, really. I was caught up in the middle of it when this all first started. If hadn't been for Subaru showing up I most certainly would've died."

Sol raised an eyebrow. "Really? Subaru was the one to save you? I thought it would've been the other way around."

"He's a good kid. Not all that athletic, but he has a will to survive so he uses his smarts. I don't even know how, but he just found me in a random part of town and told me to get in." Quark began to scratch his chin, thinking of the memory.

"He found you randomly? Charlotte and I lived in Oregon, but we both know about how large LA is. Must've been a stroke of luck."

"Hm, yeah." Quark looked outside towards the kids. They were all still crowded around the truck, watching intently as Ram attempted to start the truck. "I guess I'm a pretty lucky fella."

* * *

"Okay, now be very careful on this part. Just connect the stripped wires together and then the truck should start if the battery isn't dead already."

Ram did as she was told, touching the two wires together. There was a small spark and then the truck attempted to turn over. There was still juice left in the little guy, but not a lot. Finally, after two painful seconds, the truck turned over and roared to life. There was a celebratory cheer from all four of them as the truck rumbled.

Subaru poked his head through the back window and attempted to see the gauges. "How much gas does it have left?!"

"Not much," Ram admitted with disappointment. "A little less than a quarter tank."

Atbash pushed his hair back with his hands in relief. "I don't know how far that'll take us, but good god is this a dream come true!" Reaching under Ram, he separated the wires. As a result, the truck shut off.

Her hands to her chest and a smile on her face, Emilia asked, "So now we know we have a car, should we leave right now?"

"I'm getting a bit sleepy," Rem said, embarrassed. "Perhaps tomorrow?"

Atbash agreed, his green eyes flashing with new found hope. "I can roll with that. We've been walking in the hot sun for a long while so I think a good rest is deserved after this victory."

Subaru threw his fist in the air. "Then let's head inside! Who wants to break the good news?"

"We'll do it together," Atbash assured. "Oh, and Rom-"

"Ram," Ram corrected

"Ram, yes, that's what I said. Good work. Took a bit, but I'm sure you've got it."

They all got out of the truck and began to move to the house, each talking happily to one another. There was a new vibe among them. Now that they had a better chance of making it to the next city, it only made them happier.

"It did look quite interesting I must admit," Emilia said, nervously scratching the side of her head. "I'd like to try it next time."

Atbash agreed, telling Emilia that she'd get her chance next time they found a car. This made her smile and continue to join in on the talk the others had started now that all was good.

While it was indeed amazing that they bow have a mode of transportation, it was still a small hurdle for the. To get through if they planned to make it all the way across the country. No one but Atbash seemed to think this, who had the thought in the back of his head.

Forcing it away, Atbash decided to just take a load off and join in with his new friends with talk about what they'd do when they got to safety.

* * *

 **AN: So what'd you think? Good? Bad?  
**

 **So I'm trying to stick to a schedule now. My plan is to release a new chapter every two week, or within that time frame. If I update it earlier than expected then I'll get it out within two weeks from the time I updated, not giving any extra days. If I do happen to miss the date then I will not hesitate to release an update with an approximate date as to when the next chapter will come out. I hope this is good enough for you all.**

 **So then I'll see you all very soon. Bai bai!**


	17. Something Doesn't Feel Right

**AN: Welcome back! Now, this story is by no means anywhere close to being done just yet. It actually kinda concerns me how much is written so far with how little progress that's been made for our group. That also kinda concerns me on how long the story will be in the first place. I originally said that the story may be about forty chapters long, but I don't think that's the case anymore.**

 **Anyway, with that out of the way, I wanted to thank the people who've stuck with this story even after it's long overdue hiatus. I promise that I'll make up for it by giving it my all with this story to make it as good as it can possibly be. So I guess I'll see you all very shortly! Bai!**

Chapter 17: Something Doesn't Feel Right

* * *

Zoey extended her hand towards an elderly man on the floor. "Bill, can you stand?"

"Yeah yeah, just hurt is all." Bill, an aged army veteran with a serious attitude thanked Zoey for the hand and pulled himself up.

Zoey looked concerned. "You sure? Those things looked pretty aggressive. No bite marks?"

"I said I'm fine, Zoey."

"Okay. I'm just looking out for you."

"Yeah. Alright."

A tattoo clad biker by the name of Francis looked over his shoulder, saying to the pair, "Hey, you two done lollygaggin'? We still got a small problem coming our way."

Through the forest trees, the haunting sounds of incoming zombies filled the air. Their recent gunfire had only attracted more of them, and they seemed to be coming from every direction. Francis trained his eyes across every opening in the trees, wondering when the first one would pop out.

A well-dressed gentleman with dark skin removed the magazine from his AK, checking his ammo supply. Being optimistic, he said, "I think we'll be fine. I mean, we've already come this far. It would be pretty sucky to end it now. When this all blows over I think I'd like to just sleep in from work every day for a whole year."

"You're killing me, Louis," Francis stated, shaking his head. "I think I'll kill myself before the zombies can because your happiness is creeping me the hell out."

"Just shut up, people, and let's not make the same mistake twice," Bill said as he removed a molotov cocktail from his side. Using his lighter, he lit the end of the cloth that wasn't stuffed into the bottle.

With an animalistic screech, the first zombie came into their line of sight. Past a few trees, the monster had to maneuver around often hitting the trees and jerking to the side but continuing to run nonetheless.

"Throwing fire!"

When more zombies could be seen approaching from the same side, Bill threw the molotov into the trees. The glass bottle shattered against the hard surface, spraying fiery liquid all over a few zombies and onto the forest floor. Dried up leaves quickly caught on fire, engulfing a whole section in flames. The incoming zombies were quickly overwhelmed by the large fire as it burned their eyes and blinded them. Slowly, the fire ate away at the zombies as they flailed around in a blind attempt to reach their targets.

The four's attention was torn away from the scene when the sounds of more zombies came from behind them.

"Ah, yeah!" With a cry of excitement, Francis punched the first zombie that came up to him and then blasted their head off with an automatic shotgun.

The silent night had just gotten a little louder.

* * *

"Osino," Rem said to herself, her eyes planted on something outside.

Subaru looked away from the ceiling and at Rem. "What?"

"Osino. There's a sign over there that says this place is called Osino," said Rem, turning to face Subaru.

Subaru moved to be next to Rem, their shoulders touching. The contact made Rem blush and smile, a small huff escaping her lips with excitement. Subaru didn't notice, and instead looked out past a few houses and bushes to see the same sign.

"Then that must mean the next major city is Wendover." Rem and Subaru turned to the person that spoke; Sol. Sanding in the bedroom doorway, Sol had a large map outstretched in front of him.

It was comical at just how large the map was compared to the man's body. While Subaru was able to contain himself, Rem wasn't as lucky and let a small, restrained giggle.

"Where'd you get that?"

Without looking away at the map, Sol answered, "Uh, borrowed it from a guy in one of the other houses. Didn't really say much. Just kinda sat there."

Rem and Subaru shared a look.

"I'll be honest, that was in poor taste. But it did sound a lot better in my head."

"How far away is it?" Subaru asked.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh. About a hundred miles."

"Do you think we'll make it there with the amount of gas we have?"

"Probably. The others are filling up the tires with air right now so it'll make it an easier ride. So, now the only question is; who wants to ride in the bed?"

[LB]

A puff of black smoke was thrown out of the exhaust pipe as the truck started.

"We have lift off!" Subaru yelled from the bed of the truck as Sol took it onto the road. Carefully, he gradually accelerated. It moved loud and slow, but the feeling of the wind on their faces as they zoomed down the road was enough to fill their hearts with joy. Finally, it seemed things were looking to go their way.

With the sun still making its way to the peak of the sky, the truck drove on, kicking up clouds of dirt into the air in its wake. Had it not been for the current situation the Earth was in it would almost seem like they were all happy friends joined together for a road trip into the desert. The scene around was flat and bland but had a sort of beauty that usually went very unappreciated by people.

Rem rested her head on Ram's shoulder, their smiles brighter than the sun could ever be as they enjoyed the feeling of the hot sun and the rushing winds on their face. Quark sat on the other side of Ram, keeping an arm around her just in case of a large bump in the road. Opposite to them, Emilia surveyed the landscape with a feeling of warmth.

* * *

A desert lizard slowly crawled onto the road, turning its head to search for food. Darting it's eyes in multiple directions, it took on all the surrounding area and was pleased to find nothing. There was a sudden strong vibration coming from the floor, causing the animal to scramble away in a panic. Crawling off the road, it made its way up a wooden pole and onto a large sign.

WELCOME TO WELLS

There's more to see straight ahead.

A truck suddenly came rushing past the sign and into the city, the cause of the lizard's reaction.

"Okay, let's stop here."

Atbash had Sol stop the truck just a few yards away from the buildings, wanting to keep a low profile just in case the place was infested with zombies.

"We may not find another working car, so we should siphon some gas just in case." Atbash shouldered his backpack, a worried look on his face.

"We ready?" Quark asked. When everyone nodded he turned to his daughters, telling them, "Stay close to me."

"Yes, father," they said in unison.

Emilia, having no weapon, clung to Subaru's arm. Subaru looked at her with mild shock. She noticed his reaction, but still held on, her face a shade darker.

Carefully, they each walked off the road and onto the unkempt desert floor. Dried up plants, broken up with sharp ends prodded their legs, making them try and watch their step as they approached the city. They all stopped in their tracks when a walker stumbled out from behind a building, seemingly walking around with no destination. Luckily, the zombie turned away from them and limped in the other direction. Now it was clear that this place was dangerous.

When the zombie was out of sight, they continued. Without any other interruptions, they safely made it to the first building and hugged the wall. Subaru was thinking that perhaps they were taking the stealth part a bit too far since they were dealing with stupid creatures but then thought against it since it was probably stupid to think it was stupid.

Quark, being at the end of the line, peeked around the corner to survey the city street. So far it seemed clear. The only things out of place were the abandoned cars and dead bodies. "Stay here," he instructed the others.

Quietly, he made his way to the opposite corner towards the street. Keeping low, he observed the area. Nothing too abnormal. Surprisingly, he couldn't see a single zombie. He soon grew brave and stood straight up. He then walked out onto the sidewalk. After observing both ends of the street, he came to the conclusion that there wasn't anything to be afraid of there.

Quark took a step back and hit something that squeaked as it moved out of the way. Turning around, he was met with the familiar faces of both of his daughters.

"I thought I told you to stay over there," he scolded, pointing to the others who'd clearly let the two follow him.

Ram shrugged. "You said to stay close to you."

Rem leaned forward and planted her face into his chest, then looked up, nodding.

Finding it hard to stay annoyed, Quark chuckled and rubbed the top of Rem's head. "Alright, fine," he said. "Just stay behind me."

Rem saluted, saying, "Roger."

Ram nodded.

"Judging by the talking, it isn't that serious?"

Quark looked away from his daughters to see the others approaching them. Exhaling a nervous laugh, he scratched the back of his next and explained the situation, "There aren't any signs of any of those walkers, but I can't be too sure with the rest of the city."

"Well, we just made this stop for a car and maybe supplies if we're lucky. So let's going," Sol said, taking action by walking up front.

"He's right. The faster we are the quicker we can get out of here."

The city was quiet, as most were nowadays. There weren't many abandoned cars. The few that were left were damaged. During the chaos that struck the place, people must've ran as soon as they caught word of the infection coming their way. Bullet casings littered the floor on certain spots. So they had, at least, put up a fight to protect themselves against the horde….or each other.

Walking across the streets, Quark stopped next to a body. Rem and Ram looked on either side of their father, wondering what was happening. The body was face down, but it was clear who they had been: a member of the police department. Countless people decided to join the force, never knowing what day would be their last. Quark knew that risk, always promising his daughters that he'd be home. There had only been a handful of times when he had to say goodbye to a fellow officer who'd lost his life on duty. And every time, he made sure to send them off with a hope that they'd find peace in the afterlife.

But this was different. Nowadays, people wouldn't need to find peace when they die because dying _was_ peace.

Bending down, Quark whispered a silent apology and removed the officers holstered gun. Why the man never pulled it out was a mystery. With that, he removed his own gun and put it into Rem's hands.

"Fath-."

"Keep it. In case things get ugly." Quark gave his daughters a small smile and began to walk towards the others, his smile disappearing.

* * *

"Blaine's Grocery, huh?"

Subaru hefted his metal bat on a shoulder, observing the supermarket before them. It looked to have already been raided, but was better than nothing if they wanted to find food for the road.

"This should be fun. Like going shopping, but without paying," Charlotte commented, smiling.

"Let's try it out then." Atbash was the first to approach the building. The lights inside were still on, which was weird. He would've assumed the electricity would've gone out a long time ago. Nevertheless, he opened the front door and held it open, urging the others to follow. Slowly, the rest of them filed into the market.

Upon first glance, it seemed normal. But it was obvious that many people had already made their rounds here. Most of the food items were gone. They would have to make due.

Quark counted heads. "We can split up in twos. That way we cover more ground faster and get outta here quickly."

Emilia still had a hand on Subaru's sleeve, making it obvious to them that they were to be a pair. The other split off into pairs and walked off, Rem looking disappointed despite being with her sister.

"Wanna start at the far end?" Subaru asked Emilia.

When he didn't get an answer, he looked at his friend. She seemed to be distracted by her own thoughts.

"Emilia?"

"Huh!" Torn from her thoughts, Emilia looked apologetically at Subaru.

"I asked if you wanted to start at the far end of the store." Knowing Emilia obviously had something on her mind, Subaru asked, "You okay? You seem to be somewhere else."

"I'm fine," she replied. "... There are just some things I'm confused about."

This was unlike Emilia. Subaru always considered their friendship to have been strong enough that they would share anything that troubled them. For the longest time, he's known her as a good friend and would always tell her why he was feeling down. Whether it was his parents suddenly leaving him to a nanny for the weekend or when he got physically hurt, Emilia would be the first person he told. And she was the same way. Whenever he would want to comfort her, she would allow it. She would tell him everything and appreciate it when he talked to her about it.

So whatever this was. Whatever Emilia was keeping bottled up during a time like this, it must be serious.

Looking back at Emilia, Subaru could tell she was concentrating hard on the task ahead instead of whatever it was she was dwelling on before. Clearing his throat, he made sure to let her know he would be there for her when she needed him to be, "If you don't feel like talking about it now that's fine. But just know I'll always be here for you no matter what."

Her attention now ripped in three, Emilia heard Subaru's words and felt like she was stabbed in the heart. It hadn't been Subaru that caused her to feel the emotional pain, but herself. How could he understand? If she asked, what if he hated her or thought she was crazy? She wanted nothing more than to tell him but feared what would happen if she did.

Emilia glanced at Subaru just as he put an arm in front of her, his fierce eyes focused on something ahead.

A large zombie stumbled out from behind a check out station. Standing several feet taller than both of them, and probably weighing twice as much as their two weights combined, the zombie had no idea that they were there.

Subaru and Emilia were unsure of what to do. Run? Hide? Fight?

Before a decision could be made, a sound erupted from somewhere nearby. It wasn't very loud, but against the dead quiet silence, it was like a bomb. It was a mess of clanging, like metal dropping to the floor.

Both Subaru and Emilia flinched at the sound. The zombie had done so too, knowing it had to have come from nearby. Walking ahead of them, the zombie stared down an aisle the sound had came from. Subaru could tell he had found someone.

Then the zombie charged. The was some rustling and then the sounds of someone grunting. Subaru grabbed Emilia's hand. "Come on."

Pulling her with him, he wanted to do whatever he could to help the person in trouble. Rounding the corner of the aisle, it became clear his help wasn't needed.

A pair of gardening shears covered in wet blood slid their way down the aisle and stopped in front of the two. Subaru stated in shock and disgust at the body of the large zombie dead on the floor. A large portion of its front was soaked in blood from having been stabbed, but the most gruesome part was its head or lack thereof. And along with it was another dead zombie, farther down the aisle but with its head still attached. Subaru looked up at who had done the deed.

A scrawny young man holding a shotgun stood behind an older, broader looking fellow that wore a worn cowboy hat. The younger one seemed to have a nervous vibe around him while the cowboy had a more laid-back attitude.

The younger one stood still, staring at Subaru. The old man noticed this and looked behind towards Subaru as well. Nothing was said, but through the silence, the man could hear Subaru's other companions. With a tip of the hat, the cowboy walked back towards his partner. The boy glanced back and forth between the man and Subaru, holding the shotgun close to his chest. The man gestured for him to follow as they walked down to the opposite side of the aisle together.

"Wow, these fellas really let themselves go," Subaru heard the man say, referring to the zombies.

"And they're so fat," the younger one added.

The cowboy gawked at his partner, a look of disbelief on his face.

* * *

"Cinnamon, birthday cake, blueberry, cookie dough! Why'd they have to take all the good ones!" Sol knelt before a shelf littered with boxes, most being Poptarts.

Charlotte bent down and rubbed her husband's shoulder. Like a mother to her child, she asked, "What's wrong? You like blueberry."

"Yeah, but that's the fruit. The Poptart tastes like crap." Sol sniffled.

"You are such a man-child," Charlotte pointed out with an amused expression. "They're practically the same."

"Yeah, I guess so." Defeated, Sol grabbed the box of blueberry Poptarts and put them into Charlotte's backpack.

Walking further into the aisle, Charlotte pointed out a different box standing out from the others. "Look, the last box of Twinkies."

* * *

"Why'd we come here? This area reeks." Atbash plugged his nose, the foul odors from long expired produce filling the air.

His face slowly draining of its color, Quark nodded. "I agree. This was a terrible idea. But we have to get past it because the alcohol is just on the other side."

"I don't know whether to call you a hero or a dumbass."

"Let's settle with a little of both."

* * *

After a couple hours of scavenging and taking what gas they could from abandoned cars, Subaru inspected a small map he'd picked up from the floor. It felt rough as if it had dried up after being soaking wet. It stated that there was a park nearby. Since the city itself was pretty open he was pretty certain he was able to see it from where he was.

An idea to take a breather in the park came to mind, but that was shut down when a couple zombies shambled across the grassy field.

The city was too hollow, meaning it was dangerous for them to go any further into the city. If they did then they would be surrounded the very second the first zombie spotted them.

No matter how much anyone wanted to and explore, this world had limitations and rules that suggested they give up on their desires. This wasn't like before when traveling at night downtown was dangerous. Nowadays, traveling anywhere at any time was dangerous. The few ways to ensure you lived to see another day was to stick with a group. And even then, it wasn't a guarantee.

These thoughts of slim survival were relieved when Rem approached Subaru from behind and gave him a light squeeze around his stomach to get his attention.

Rem handed Subaru a cold bottle of water, sitting next to him. "Are you okay, Subaru? You've been sitting here for quite a while." Her eyebrows furrowed with worry when she noticed he hadn't answered immediately but hesitated.

"I've been better," he finally answered. "You?"

Rem smiled, side glancing at Subaru. "I've been okay. Sister and father are doing well, so seeing them be happy during a time like this makes me happy as well."

"Heh, glad to hear that, Rem." Subaru grinned. "Wow, it's been awhile since we've really talked, hasn't it?"

Rem nodded, knowing it to be painfully true. Before the infection, they would talk every day practically. Some would say they were inseparable, or more so Rem was inseparable from him. So when everything changed and Subaru went to save Emilia, they hadn't really talked.

Rem never said it, but she knew perfectly clear that Subaru loved Emilia. Despite living with Subaru every day for the near month, Rem couldn't help but feel they had actually grown apart. In that time, Subaru had spoken with Emilia more times than he did with her. And that had hurt.

"Don't worry, Subaru. I'm fine with you speaking with other women. Just as long as you don't leave me."

Subaru grinned. "That was a weird thing to say." That just told him that Rem was still Rem. Even though she'd lost almost everything, she remained positive. He envied that.

Rem feigned innocent, tilting her head to the side. "Was it? I'd just rather Subaru talk to me more often." Smiling, she leaped onto Subaru arm, holding it close like it was a valuable piece of treasure.

Not nearly as shocked as he should've been, Subaru allowed the contact. They stayed like that until it was time to leave. Atbash came to retrieve them, finding Subaru staring off into space with Rem on his arm.

"Hey, when you two are done, we wanna make it over to the next town to find a place to sleep."

Subaru shook out of his daze. He looked around, wondering just how long he'd been there with Rem. "Did you guys run into any trouble?"

Atbash nodded. "Just a little. This place doesn't look it, but the buildings are crawling with those things. I'd say we sleep here, but I don't want to run that risk."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Subaru nodded and began to get up. Looking down, he realized that Rem was asleep, clinging to his arm like a pillow. Lightly, he began shaking her shoulder.

"Rem," he quietly called. Again, he shook her shoulder and called her name. But Rem didn't seem to want to awaken, her face scrunching up while her hands gripped his arm tighter.

 _So that's how this is gonna be, huh, Rem?_

Putting his arms behind her back and legs, Subaru carried Rem bridal style. Moaning, Rem turned to face Subaru's chest. With Subaru looking ahead, Rem opened her eyes just to glance at Subaru. Closing them again, she smiled, digging her face into Subaru.

Subaru felt the pressure and looked at Rem with the smile on her face. Then he knew what it meant. Tricky little Rem.

* * *

After an hour of driving, Sol rolled into the next city; West Wendover. Growing up around skyscrapers, Subaru found it weird that it was as an actual city. As far as he could tell, all he saw were a bunch of what could be houses hiding behind trees and a few super markets with names he'd never heard of before.

When Sol parked the car, Quark couldn't have been any happier. "Thank, god. My ass hurts." Through rough terrain, he had endured having his bottom repeatedly slammed by the hard metal surface of the truck. While the ride had been quite exciting the first five minutes, the rest of the way was a waiting game on when the torture would end.

The others didn't fare any better. Rem climbed out after Subaru, groaning from the aching in her back. Everyone else's reactions weren't so different.

"The hell happen to you guys?" Atbash asked, his body relaxed from being able to sit on a cushioned seat.

Slowly, they came closer to the residential area. So far they had not seen a single zombie shambling about. It was both strange and very reassuring. The city itself seemed to be right out of a stereotypical post-apocalyptic scenario. The only sounds coming from ahead were the rustling leaves of the upcoming trees, a distant car alarm, and the calls of overhead birds.

Walking across an empty parking lot, it became clear to them that this city had had its fair share of infections as well. Sitting against the wheels of a semi truck, the headless corpse of a long-dead trucker cooked in the hot sun. Along with that poor soul came more. Most of the deceased, both scattered on the lot and in the burning hot dirt, were mostly skeletal remains. The foul stench filled the air, assaulting the group and urging them to pick up the pace.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally made it to the where the houses were. Although the block they came across had a wooden fence lining the property, a car had previously mowed through it and into the house just in the other side. The car itself was busted, no use trying to salvage it. The driver was nowhere to be seen, but the bloody front seat gave them an idea as to what had happened. The house itself, having a car crashed halfway into it, was in complete disarray.

There was nothing they could or were willing to do, so they moved on. After crossing multiple front yards they began to realize something was weird. The place was just a shell of its former self. Few bloodied cars lined the streets, abandoned and forgotten in the heat of the moment. Houses were broken into or out of, some being burned to a crispy by unknown means. The smell of burning wood, still strong in the air, gave no pleasure to them. It's sharp tang and awful reason was enough to almost make them abandon the trip altogether. But they needed results. If they were to survive they would need a reliable form of transportation. The truck wouldn't do, seeing that it was already on its last legs.

No, the weirdest and most disturbing thing was the absence of any walkers. Not a single one had been discovered since they arrived. They continued to walk, keeping eyes out for anyone or anything. The severity of the city's destruction seemed to decrease the farther they went into the city, something that was welcome.

* * *

A silent killer, an earth-shattering wave of immense force, and a trial of strength and courage. All parts of what can only describe what Atbash determined to be the end of the world. This would weed the weak from the strong.

After yet another failed attempt to start a car, Atbash slammed his fist on the wheel. His mind had been elsewhere. He couldn't think straight. Nothing was making sense.

After stepping out of the car, Atbash looked to the houses and the alleys between them. He scanned the windows, not looking for something but some _one_. This wasn't right. Something had to have happened in the city to purge it of the infected.

Can you hear that?" Atbash asked, his green eyes glaring at Sol.

Sol stopped breathing so heavily and listened, exhausted from standing out in the sun attempting to get a working car. He heard nothing except for the sound of a light breeze blowing between the buildings and the crunch of asphalt beneath the feet of their approaching friends.

"Hear what?," Sol asked, his face moody since Atbash never answered his original question.

"Exactly… It's too quiet. Those things have obviously done a number on this place already, but I haven't seen a single one." Again, Atbash looked up at the buildings. "Something doesn't feel right. I say we stay for just one night, but that's it. Car or not, we leave tomorrow morning."

"But that won't give us much time to look for a car," Sol pointed out, crossing his arms.

"You're right, but there aren't any zombies in the area. If that's the case then it might mean there's something worse around."

Sol joined in on looking through the cars, asking, "Something worse than those flesh eaters?"

Atbash pried open the door of a truck, glancing around inside. "The infected are dumb. Aside from being near invincible without a bullet to the head, they don't seem to grasp the concept of working together. They can't form a plan of attack or even seem to be able to communicate with each other." Atbash checked every compartment of the truck, finding nothing but a pocket knife in the center console. "Humans, on the other hand, are smart."

"I can't believe someone still had a Jack in the Box antenna ball!" Atbash and Sol turned to Subaru, who had exclaimed in mild excitement at the sight of small antenna attachment on one of the older cars.

Ram came up behind him, annoyed by his sudden outburst. "Barusu, what are you doing?"

Plucking the ball from the car, Subaru stuck his tongue out at Ram. "Uh, taking it. I used to love putting these things on my fingers and then pretend they were talking."

After a moment of hesitation with her mouth open, Ram dropped it and proceeded to walk away.

"Okay, maybe not all humans are," Atbash admitted.

* * *

After an hour with no luck, Quark suggested that they take separate tasks. "It's getting late. I say we split into two groups. One can look for a car while the other looks for a place to sleep. It shouldn't be that dangerous because if the infected really did move on then that'll make it safer to maneuver in smaller groups." Having talked about it before, Quark had come to the conclusion that the zombies must've moved on when there were no humans to feast on.

There was a murmur among the group before it was agreed to do so. Quark, Emilia, Rem, and Charlotte would handle finding a place to sleep while Subaru, Ram, Sol, and Atbash would keep looking for working vehicles. Before separating, they all agreed to meet up when the sun began to set.

After failing to start yet another car by hot wiring it, Atbash punched out the already broken windshield. "Most of these damn things don't have batteries. And the few ones that do have them are wasted."

The more and more cars they went through, they deeper into the city they traveled. It was becoming hopeless, at this point they were just wasting energy. With the sun now low behind the buildings, none of them could really see without the use of their flashlights.

"It's getting too dark now. We should head back," Ram suggested.

Sol nodded, closing the door of yet another empty car. "Agreed, hopefully, the others had better luck."

Subaru reluctantly agreed as well. A car would make things easier on them, so just to find _one_ would mean a lot.

While Atbash worked on the last car, Subaru and the others sat down on top of the hoods of various cars. And after yet another disappointment, they sighed in defeat and slowly made their way back to where they were supposed to meet.

Sol dragged his feet, kicking away the rocks that came across his way. "So what now? What's the plan for tomorrow."

Atbash, who had been wiping his dirty hands on his leather jacket, thought about it. "We didn't run into anything bad this whole time, so I say we could continue looking for a car tomorrow. But only for a little bit because we should cover as much ground as possible while we still have sunlight."

"It would be better if we traveled at night," Ram stated. "Traveling when the sun is up just leads to us getting burned out quicker because of the heat."

With that idea in the air, the four continued walking. Upon reuniting with the other they were immediately met with relief.

Quark yawned, "It's about time. I was close to sending a search party to find you guys."

"Judging by your face, you found a safe place to sleep?" Sol asked, his shirt soaked with sweat.

"Not entirely 'safe' per say, but it does have its perks."

* * *

They had not found a motel, nor a structured building, but a two-story house.

"A house? It's just like one of the many others we've seen," Sol chided. "Something can easily just break in and kill us all."

"They can kill us, yes, but we'll have an advantage. If we sleep upstairs then we'll hear anything come in before it can find us," came Quark's suggestion.

As dangerous as it was it was still probably their best option. It had become clear to them at one point that the city had hotels and casinos that had plenty of room, but were still inhabited by infected.

So Atbash reluctantly agreed. It wasn't the safest option but was their only option at this point. For a moment, he thought about them just ditching the place and getting back in the truck and driving off in hopes of reaching the next city before running out of gas. But he knew he'd be the only one in on the plan. There was no going back.

Sadly, there was no power in the house. No electricity, no running water, none of the essentials. But surely, it wouldn't be that bad. They were only staying for the night after all.

* * *

In the dead of night, a small group of armed men and women made their way across a street and stationed themselves along the perimeter of the house before them, their guns pointed up at the second story windows.

"Nicolas, I advise you not to use aggression. If you do then they may not cooperate." A woman sternly warned a man that walked ahead of her, both in the middle of the street observing the house as well. "Plus, these are _my_ men you are commandeering."

"Relax, will you, sweetheart? I 'aven't takin' shit from you. Ya'll 'ave the same goal as we do. So if you got a problem with 'ow I run things then I suggest you go back to the car."

The man, Nicolas, waved off the woman, looking at her as if she were an annoyance.

The woman was about to say something when multiple voices blasted through a wallow talkie strapped to Nicolas' waist.

" _Sir, we have movement on the second floor. Left window on the northern side of the building."_

" _Same with the right window on the eastern side."_

" _Western and southern sides are all clear."_

Nicolas responded, "Our scouts say there were about seven of 'em, give or take one. Restrain them and keep them under temporary house arrest. We'll figure out the rest later."

With that, the people up front made their way to the front door. When the door was open, they all flooded inside except for one that paused to throw a cylinder into one of the rooms upstairs. In a couple seconds, a bright flash briefly illuminated the room, flashing a blinding light. There was a scream right before there was the cracking of a door being blown off its hinges.

"If any of them get hurt, it's your head," the woman growled.

Nicolas chuckled. Finding the nonexistent dark humor in the threat.


	18. Greedy Intentions

**AN: Welcome back to our regularly scheduled program! Sorry for the unusually short chapter. I hadn't originally planned to create this at all to be honest but thought it would be better described rather than introduced through dialogue. But yeah, I ended up going to Las Vegas for the weekend because my aunt was getting married. Was a bit skeptical because I was a bit worried an Elvis impersonator was going to marry them. Turns out he was going to a different wedding. Anyway, that happened and then I spent the rest of my time hanging out with family I hadn't seen in a long ass time. Anyway, this chapter is more to set up characters and future events along with jabbing at major plot points. I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 18: Greedy Intentions

* * *

 _Two Year Ago..._

The ringing sounds of arcade games, the shooting of fake blasters, and the cries and cheers of children made Regulus' eye twitch. It was all too much noise, but surely it was necessary.

The placing being his own, Regulus began to wonder why he would ever think of buying such a place full of animals. Small, loud, annoying little pieces of work. Regulus walked across the room, small children running around and away from him to head to another game.

Of course, this place served him nothing more than to clean his hard earned money. The money soaked in the blood of hundreds of people he chose to kill. He easily could've paid off an entire bank to clean it for him, but he couldn't open his trust any wider than it was now. Too many people were in on this massive opportunity, so much that it was stretched thin to the point of breaking.

Perhaps, killing a few of his own men would help with that. Thinking this, Regulus entered a restricted area of the building, walking down a hallway and entering a keycard secured door guarded by a lone man. The room itself was the size of an office and soundproof to ensure the safety of their words and what they said. And at the end of the room was a wooden table, made up of a delicate wood and masterfully crafted and decorated to depict kanji symbols of good fortune and luck. And so far, it had worked.

Regulus would've happily sat down in his seat had it not been for the woman already sitting in it; Elsa Granhiert, his right-hand woman.

"Disrespectful, as always expected of you," Regulus scoffed.

Elsa giggled, tossing the knife she had in her hand in the air and catching it by the blade. "Now, that's no way to say hello," she cooed.

"Ha, I'll be saying something else if you don't get out of my designated chair, succubus," Regulus murmured threateningly. "We have known each other far longer than any other of our acquaintances, but I will not tolerate your usage of merciless actions towards me and my things."

After a loud sigh, Elsa bounced from the chair and stood in front of the table as Regulus took a seat. She could tell he wasn't in the right mindset and decided to ask what was troubling him. "Well, someone's being petty today? Care to share what's troubling your beautiful little head there, Regu."

"For the twentieth time, don't call me that. Anyway, I ordered you here today so we can discuss the fall of our eastern supplier."

Elsa seemed unfazed by this. Probably because anything business related didn't appeal to her. "Hm, Frazer?"

"Yes, Nicolas has fallen. Taken down practically single-handedly by an old man in tighty whiteys. He wasn't my only supplier by any means, but he was the largest."

Nicolas Frazer, most notably known as Double on the eastern side of the nation. If you wanted to get quality meth, he was your guy. His name, deriving from his multiple personality disorder, was what made him both unique and dangerous. He had a bad side and an even worse side. But now he was out of the picture, not dead, but definitely not going anywhere anytime soon with his record.

And now, with him gone, Regulus was unsure on what to do. That was a large sum of money of his gone.

"So what will you do?" Elsa asked.

Regulus leaned back in his chair, his golden eyes tracing invisible lines on the ceiling. "Not sure yet." After a minute of silence and the air growing thin, Regulus continued, "My advisor is coming in, to relay information on the trials. I also have a young man arriving soon…. looking for work."

Elsa nodded. "So he found out about us somehow. You wish for me to silence him?"

Regulus waved his hand. "No. Let's give him a chance. Until then, be at attention. I'm not sure how many more slip-ups and failures I can endure before I lose it."

* * *

"Tell me everything," Regulus commanded.

"Alright," Regulus' advisor removed a small stack of papers from a briefcase, laying the papers down onto the table. "The trial is set to happen a week from now. Word is he hasn't given any names and refuses to do so. If that's the case up until the end then his sentence will be far longer. And with the size that his operation was in the first place with quite a few missing people profile's leading to him but not confirmed it's safe to say he'll be kept for maybe forty, fifty years."

Regulus rubbed his cheeks. "And so, would it be smart to rescue him before or after his official sentencing?"

His advisor put away half of the papers, reserving the others. The others had what looked like maps and schematics of a building.

"Well, you have three options," the advisor informed. "If you go in before his trial and catch him then we could lay low until he's clear and have him work behind walls. The good thing is that this option is probably the safest in terms of rescue. The downside is that it's a great risk to everything. And I doubt you'll want to risk this for just one man."

"Hm, second option?"

"The second option is rescuing him after the trial. That's where we'll utilize the mapping of the building that I got and hopefully sneak him away. The holding cells aren't that far from the nearest entry point so it'll make going in, getting him, and going out a short trip. You'll have to disable cameras and take out a few guards before you can actually rescue Mr. Frazer. Do that and you'll be home free. Fail, and you'll probably share the same cell as him. Once you're caught in the act, it's all over. Everything you've worked for will be gone."

Regulus pondered those options, seeing neither as a risk worthy plan.

The advisor took a deep breath, shuffling the papers in his hand. "Those are the only two options we have _if_ you wish to rescue Mr. Frazer."

Regulus glared at his advisor. Then his eyes softened. "Go on," he commanded.

His advisor began to sweat. His eyes glanced around at the guards in the room, suddenly feeling like a gazelle trapped in a room full of lions. What he was about to explain might either kill him or not.

"There was a woman….. The Administrator of CEDA. She wants to help."

"Precisely," came another voice at the door.

Regulus looked at the newcomer, a woman. Silver hair, violet eyes, she was unfamiliar to Regulus. "And just who might you be, interrupting a superior is extremely rude and in some cases deadly."

The two guards, feeling uneasy with the situation, drew their pistols. Happy with this, Regulus smiled. Satella, to his surprise, did as well.

"As your sheep just informed, I'm the Administrator of CEDA. You may call me Satella, but your friend there can call me ma'am." Satella said lastly referring to Elsa. Her smile seemed sweet, but Elsa was the only one that could see the true mischief lying just underneath. "I know you don't trust me, and you probably never will. But I have an offer. Something you can't refuse because it can benefit the both of us. All I need is your cooperation."

* * *

 _One Year Ago…_

Regulus looked down at his hand, a small syringe in his palm. Inside the medical device was a red liquid, like water with coloring. His mind was a mess of thoughts. He wasn't exactly sure on what to do with it except stare.

"What is this," he had asked Satella.

"The next step," she had replied. "A ticket to Hell, yet also being a protection."

Regulus gripped the syringe. "What if it doesn't work?"

"It will." Suddenly sweet, Satella's silky smooth voice reassured Regulus to his core. "This is what you wanted, right?"

Nervous, Regulus met Satella's eyes. He suddenly felt calm looking into her eyes, remembering why he had fallen for her in the first place. "It is. I'm just… scared." His voice was shaky. For the first time in a long time, he was at a complete loss for words.

It was a scary decision, one that only few had to make. It was either yes or no. Satella knew this all too well. Not only did she want this, but she needed this. Regulus, one of her most trusted at this point, needed to be protected by her.

Satella held the back of Regulus' neck, leaning forward and kissing his cheek and saying, "When you wake up I'll still be here with you."

Regulus blushed, having never been kissed for a long while. Love had never been on his schedule for it had always been taken up with business. He never hoped he'd find it one day, but he was glad it did. And when it came in the form of the woman before him, he was happy.

Slowly, he removed the needle's plastic cover. The thin piece of metal wasn't easy to look at it when it contents included a life-changing fluid. He brought the needle close to his arm, sitting down in the chair behind him as he did so. He brought the needle down until it touched his delicate skin, nearly piercing it. He brought it away momentarily until he felt Satella slip her hand into his, holding tight.

Satella gave him a reassuring nod, smiling as sweet as a peach. This was enough for Regulus to finish the job. He sunk the needle into his arm, slowly pressing the red fluid into his bloodstream.

"Ah," Regulus sighed in slight pain when he first began to feel the fluid enter his body. It felt hot like he had just injected straight hot water into his body. It was bearable but soon became unbearable. Quickly, the liquid traveled around his body, growing more intense the longer time went. "Hah, it-it…. hurts," he managed to say through clenched teeth.

As pain, unlike that from intense heat, began to set in, Regulus finished pushing the liquid into his body began to tense up. It felt like every muscle in his body suddenly tensed up, using every ounce of energy they had reacting to the pain.

"Regu, stay with me."

Through the torture and the loud, fast thumping of his own heart, Regulus managed to make out Satella's voice call out to him. As he began to feel like he was leaving his body, he opened his eyes and found Satella. Her captivating eyes and heartwarming looks were all he could cling onto. He focused entirely on her face to stay alive. He had to, nothing else mattered but her. This couldn't be it. He refused to let this be the last he ever saw of her. He didn't want to die a blubbering mess, moaning and crying in agony as his body started to die.

The reflection of the lights in Satella's eyes, the small purse of her lips, and the small dimples on her cheeks. Such small details, but it's what he found beautiful about the situation.

Slowly, thin purple lines began to rapidly travel around his skin, like worms. The lines zigzagged across his arms and chest, traveling up his neck and then sinking into his eyes before disappearing entirely.

At that moment, Regulus couldn't help but shut his eyes as an even stronger wave of pain overtook him. Within a couple seconds, he knocked out.

Satella waited, her hand still in Regulus'. After a minute went by with nothing she slipped away her hand to feel his neck for a pulse.

Nothing.

Satella was silent, her eyes saying nothing. Then slowly, Regulus' started to turn cold, his body no longer functioning normally and keeping his blood hot.

"Just a little longer," Satella whispered to herself, passing her fingers through Regulus' thin hair. She grew more worried by the second, hoping he'd awaken.

And that he did.

Regulus' eyes suddenly shot wide open, his lungs taking in as much air as they could. Breathing rapidly, he began to take in his surroundings. Everything was the same as before. So it became clear to him that time had barely passed since he had felt that excruciating pain throughout his body. He was about to get up when he felt someone hug his head from behind.

Immediately reacting, Regulus tore himself from the grasp and shot to his feet. He turned and faced Satella, murmuring in confusion as he did so, "What? Who?"

Smiling, Satella approaches Regulus and held his hand. Softly, she asked, "Do you feel alright? Do you remember me?"

Regulus took a step back, looking down at Satella's hand grasp his own. "I-I don't know. At least, I think I don't."

"Don't worry," she reassured. "It's only temporary."

Regulus' breathing started to even to a steady pace. The cold sweat he felt was now gone. And the woman before him began to come back into his memory. She was….. Satella…. something. Her last name, it was fuzzy.

Reaching towards his face, Satella held Regulus' face, feeling the unusual cold feeling of his skin. "May I see something," she asked.

Still confused as to what was happening, Regulus agreed nonetheless. "Sure, but what is i-?!"

Before he could even finish his question, Satella pulled a knife from her sleeve and sunk it deep into Regulus' chest. Ripping through the tissue and muscle, the blade tearing through his heart.

A silent scream escaped Regulus' mouth as he clutched, unbelieving, onto Satella. The intense pain, the empty feeling is betrayal, Regulus fell to a knee, his hands grasping onto the knife as he started to fall unconscious.

* * *

 _Months Later…_

"Go to hell, you fucking bitch!"

Before he knew it, a bullet forced its way into Regulus' chest, tearing his flesh and snapping his bones. The impact slowed him down, bringing him to the ground. Through the pain, he fought on.

Without a warped mind, he normally would've ran away. But this was different. Anger surged through him as he looked at Atbash. Hatred boiled deep inside, providing him with enough will to get back onto his feet and rush at the man again.

He raised his hand over his face, trying pathetically to protect his one vital body part. Luckily, Atbash had no intention of doing so and shot his body three more times. Pain. More pain. He loved it. It still meant he was somewhat human.

Coming to a stop, Regulus clutch his chest. Looking down, he could see his entire front start to stain red with his own cold blood. He stumbled back and looked at his hand, coated in his own blood.

Regulus smiled, wondering if this was his end. With the unbearable pain in his chest, he started to feel dizzy.

The police and ambulance sirens were starting to sound muffled and far away. He was losing it, slowly going under. This wasn't the right condition. He had to wait, to rest.

He had to wait for Satella.

With a smile on his face, Regulus fell to his back and looked longingly at the stars, wondering which held his name.

* * *

 _Present Day..._

"Let me go!" Somewhere in the same place she had been before, Ashley struggled against the men zip tying her wrists down to a chair.

One of the goons standing by rubbed his face, asking with annoyance, "Can someone please shut her the hell up? This is the second time."

Ashley turned to the man, spitting at him and yelling, "Fuck you!" To the man's pleasure, one of the women came up from behind and stuffed a dirty piece of cloth in Ashley's mouth.

Still, Ashley tried to swear through the cloth, her voice coming out muffled. After some time, she gave up and took to glaring at the people around her. There were four of them; three men and one woman. None of them appeared to have any guns on them, but she couldn't rely on that.

The man nearest her, about arm's length, seemed to be falling asleep. If she could just reach him somehow and grab his knife. Maybe then she could have a chance to escape. She didn't know what Regulus had planned for her, but she didn't want to find out.

If she wanted to get the knife she would have to break out of a zip tie. Only then would she have a chance. SHe looked around at the others, noticing they weren't really watching her anymore. To them, she had absolutely no chance of escaping.

Only when they all weren't looking did Ashley start to move her wrist around, trying to snap the plastic tie off. She used as much force as possible, to the point it started to hurt with the plastic pressed into her skin. Her force only increased, stopping when one of the goons looked in her direction. But when he looked away, she resumed.

Then, by some miracle, the tie began to loosen. The plastic locks began to give, snapping out of place and slowly freeing her. Saving the celebration for later, she slipped her hand out from the loop and reached towards the knife the sleeping man had on his hip. She was just barely close enough, having to stretch out further to wrap her hand around the handle.

"Hello again!" Regulus cried in glee, walking down a flight of stairs ahead of them the led up to an office space. A weary smile on his face, he walked with his hands behind his back. Ashley, patiently zip tied in her chair, regarded him with disgust. She didn't have to be smart to know he was in charge of all these people. The very same people that forced their way into a safe house of sorts and killed everyone but her. And why? She had no idea.

"My, my, isn't this a happy bunch," Regulus sarcastically noted, picking up the nervous vibes. "You know, I'd expect more from my friends, but I guess nowadays things haven't been looking good for everybody. Me, personally, find our current situation somewhat beautiful. It's like a new chance for humanity. Why waste time trying to perfect something that's beyond saving when you can just start clean?" Regulus planted a hand on Ashley's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I don't expect you to understand, my sweet. But things have already been set in motion. The end of days is upon us and I wish to be here to see it. What say you? Will you be my bride?" Regulus leaned in close, his nose nearly touching her's.

Ashley physically shook in disgust, throwing her head back and headbutting Regulus.

"Gah!" Regulus stepped back, clutching his nose. He showed no pain but excitement in his voice. "Beautiful! I like it! A fighter, just what I've always wanted. You will replace her perfectly." STanding straight up, he commanded his _friends_ to leave.

Now alone with Regulus, Ashely only thought about killing him and running away. Whatever Regulus had meant, she didn't want to find out. And if she was meant to be a replacement then what had happened to the previously girl.

Smiling mischievously, Regulus leaned toward Ashely again, saying softly. "I once had my heart broken. Both literally and in its own sense. But since then I've been incomplete, searching for the right one for me. Whether by natural means or by force, I wish to have someone to share my life with. For better or for worse."

Again, Regulus began to lean closer to her. She had a sick idea knowing what he was going for and refused to let it happen. Yelling through her gag, she kicked her feet up and kicked Regulus away. Using this opportunity, she slipped her hand out of the loose zip tie and grabbed the knife she had hid under her foot. WIth him recovering, she quickly cut off the other zip tie. However, Regulus was quick and grabbed Ashley by the arm before she could run and forced her to stop.

Desperate, Ashley turned around, closing her eyes and stabbing blindly with the knife. She felt it sink into something and then she let go. When she opened her eyes she was horrified. Despite wanting to kill him, she wasn't ready to see the whole knife sunk deep into Regulus' neck. Blood quickly began to rush out of the wound, seeping down into his clothes. Regulus himself seemed to be in shock, not ready for such a lethal and direct attack.

Disgusted by the sight, Ashley turned and ran. She ran for the door, ready to meet what or whoever was on the other side. However, she didn't make it. She fell to the floor when a sudden shock of intense pain hit her leg. Crying, she attempted to get to her feet but fell again when pain shot up her leg. To her dismay, Regulus had torn the knife from his neck and threw it at the back of her knee. This horrifying fact became clear to her when Regulus suddenly appeared, standing over her like an angry god.

"You….. shouldn't have…...done that," he said with some trouble, the deep cut in neck closing and healing at a lightning speed before her very eyes.

"Wha-? What the hell?!"

Regulus grabbed Ashley by the hair and lifted her into the air, speaking with venom, "Perhaps…. few days in solitary will help you!" He then threw her onto the floor, planting his foot on top of her chest. His neck now as good as new, Regulus called for his men to take a weeping Ashley away.


	19. Synopsis

Final update…

I'm sorry everybody, but things just aren't working out here on my end. From work to family and personal problems, I can't do this anymore. I've tried to become myself again, to do things that I enjoyed before, but none of it brings it back. So I think I'm done. Pretty sure the last straw though was when my phone took a crap on me and I couldn't back it up to a more recent state. So all my story notes, character/character arc descriptions, zombie types and biology, basically everything besides the actual written parts were gone. All that time creating what I thought would be my most detailed and my most proudest fic… just gone. So, I've decided to just throw in the towel and give up.

However, I know I can't just simply do that. Instead of leaving the story like this, I've decided to give you a basic synopsis as to what I wanted to happen all the way to the end. It's nothing compared to how my detailed synopsis was before, but I'm sure it'll do its job. I'll just start it at where we left off.

Continuing in ARC 1: Survival Instincts

Subaru and the others are captured by Nicholas and his goons accompanied with Elsa. Unable to fight, Subaru tries to negotiate his way out. This fails and they are all taken to another part of town; the casinos. They are forced into the casinos and promised that if they could survive the remainder of the night with all the zombies that infested the place then they would be set free. Things don't go as planned and Subaru ends up dying. Next time, Subaru fixes his mistake and they survive the night. Nicolas returns, annoyed that they had actually survived. However, he never planned on letting them free and has his men ready their guns. The woman from before interjects, revealing herself to Subaru's group as a CEDA commanding officer. On her command, the few CEDA soldiers in the group turned their guns to the enemy and killed them. Elsa barely manages to escape, fleeing before she can be shot down. Nicolas dies along with them and the woman is able to safely escort the survivors to an evac point that'll take them to New York, serving as one of the few remaining safe zones.

Begin ARC 2: The Color of Blood

Upon arrival, it's clear that New York City is overpopulated. People fill the streets while the buildings remained empty due to safety reasons. The city serves as CEDA's headquarters, naturally making it the most secure place in America. The CEDA offensive forces border the city, with checkpoints at every entrance to protect.

Subaru and his group are taken to a camp within the city to get settled after going through security. It's hard to get around with so many people everywhere, making Atbash nervous. He believes there are too many people and that once something goes wrong then it won't take long at all for it all to fall apart. In fact, Quark agrees, amazed at how such and overpopulated place such as New York would even have lasted this long when a city in the desert fell quickly.

After just arriving, Atbash is already planning on leaving. It isn't decided upon until a couple days later when Elsa makes a sudden appearance and attacks them. They manage to escape through the crowds with only a few shallow cuts and escape the city. Elsa is unable to follow them, allowing them to escape.

They regroup on the edge of the city, discussing on what to do next. Charlotte informs them that her parents once had a beach house in Florida. She knew it well, saying that the area was rich in tropical fruits and a nearby small village could provide them with food and water until they found a way to provide it for themselves.

On the way to Florida they are captured by Regulus' men. They are all taken to him, where he ends up falling for Emilia and declaring for her to be his wife and queen as he thought of himself as the king of this world. The others are taken to their cells while Emilia is forced to remain where she was.

In the prison area, Atbash reunites with Lindsay and Ashley. He promises to get them out of there so they could live happily together in Florida. Meanwhile, Emilia plays along with Regulus, pretending to fall for his charm and agree to be his queen. Now with some trust to her name, she is able to go to the holding cells and knock a man unconscious using his own taser. She frees the others and they make their way back to the exit. Regulus appears again, this time angry. He admits to having watched Emilia free her friends through the security cameras and decided that maybe she wasn't fit for queen after all.

Regulus presses a button on his watch, calling down a mechanical suit of armor to land in front of him. Regulus places himself inside the suit, the metal parts locking into place around him almost like an iron man suit, but much less advanced and protective. Atbash empties out the gun he had picked up earlier from the man into the suit, but it does nothing. Regulus makes quick work of them, crushing them all with his enhanced strength. Subaru reawakens just before the attack and rewatches Regulus put on the suit.

They scatter this time, running off to find weapons to use. In the end, Regulus is defeated when struck with a rocket launcher that takes out the power source. Atbash launches one more rocket just to be safe.

They safely leave the area, 'borrowing' a truck to get them the rest of the way to Florida.

Begin ARC 3: Search and Destroy

Now safe, they relax and think of what to do next. They had been there for only a week when CEDA shows up and kidnaps Subaru.

The group is furious. They don't know why they would kidnap Subaru, but what they did know was that they wanted him back. However, they don't know where to start. They travel along the coast, following what they hoped were CEDA's footprints when they came across a group of survivors using their guns to fight off hordes of infected.

Meanwhile, Subaru is taken to the Bahamas where another CEDA facility is. Here he learns that they kidnapped him because he harbored the ability to travel back in time. There he meets his mother and father, Betelgeuse, and Satella. CEDA wants to take that power and use it to create a time machine capable to taking them back in time to prevent the apocalypse. He agrees with this if it meant he survived the procedure, but finds out that CEDA actually intends to use their knowledge of the infection now to weaponize it in the past. He doesn't want that.

Back with the others, they find out that the other survivors were Zoey, Bill, Francis, and Louis. They had heard of a CEDA facility being located in the Bahamas and intended on getting there using a boat. However, they had to lower the bridge to do that, hence all the loud noise. Quark tells them their situation and they agree to help with some encouragement from Zoey who remembered Subaru.

They turn on the last generator and get the bridge moving. After successfully fighting off the final wave of zombies they're able to completely raise the bridge and aboard the boat and head straight for the Bahamas.

At this time, Subaru is being tested on and having his ability to head back in time turn into a physical form. It takes the form of an unknown element that cannot be recreated so it's one of a kind. Now, Subaru no longer has the ability to return by death.

When done, he knows he can't die again so he must ask carefully. He plans on using the time traveling device to his own advantage and prevent the present himself if CEDA intends to use the virus instead of getting rid of it.

Satella figures out Subaru's plan and has him locked down in a holding cell. Here he meets Okabe, the man who finalized the time traveling device. He tells Subaru that he was kept as a slave to build the machine. They team up together to figure out a way to be the first to go back in time and prevent the outbreak. All they would need was a way out.

With the others, they all make it to the Bahamas. They find the facility, attacking by surprise and gaining an upper hand. Suddenly, they come in contact with Elsa, who attacks them relentlessly but is ultimately defeated when Rem deals the finishing blow after being worn down. They capture a guard who tells them where Subaru was. They all move to the holding cells and free Subaru and Okabe.

Now free, Okabe and Subaru have the others escort them to the heart of the labs. Along the way they fight many CEDA soldiers, ending in many casualties. Okabe fires up the time machine, telling them to get in. They all crowd in and are almost immediately taken away to be sent back in time. Before going in himself, Okabe overloads the systems with a virus of his to destroy the machine after a few seconds that way they couldn't be followed. With the remaining few of CEDA soldiers entering the room, the time machine whisks them away.

Begin ARC 4: From Zero

Subaru reawakens back in his room. He feels funny then throws up. His parents come up and check on him, but feels he can't trust them. They had been part of CEDA, and he knew exactly what they wanted. He moves away from them, running out of his room and out of the house.

Okabe had told him he knew how to prevent the outbreak, but the first step would be to find him. He was thinking of having to by a plane ticket to japan when he gets a phone call.

Subaru answers the phone, confused because it was Okabe on the other side. Okabe explains everything. He had intentionally sent Subaru and his friends to the day of the outbreak while he sent himself further back to destroy any possibilities of the virus spreading. It was just as he had planned, he found the source before anyone else and put an end to it. He didn't want to have them risk their lives so he chose to do it alone.

With that, Okabe told Subaru to enjoy his life and live without fear. He suggested finding his friends and tell them the news as well because he was sure they all would have stories to tell.

END

And that's it. The end of it all summarized in as few words as possible. I'm sorry, but thank you anyways.

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By the way, Happy April Fools. So if you absolutely hated what you just read then don't worry. That was my intention.

But really, I actually did lose all my notes for the story, characters, and zombies. I'm pissed.


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